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With the increasing use of modern technology, companies are generating a huge amount of data. Data gets collected with every transaction the company makes and every interaction it has with its clients. But in many cases, this data is deposited in different places and in an unorganised manner, which means that the company cannot use it. But those companies that are tech savvy utilise the available information in a highly beneficial manner. The process is called operations analytics, and these firms get valuable insights that guide them to make better decisions.
You can understand this process from the Advanced Certificate Course In Operations, Supply Chain And Project Management. Visit our website to learn more about this course and how it can benefit you. We will give you a short description of this process and how it helps companies.
Understanding Operations Analytics
Companies must stay on top of potential opportunities; the best method is to use the available data. They can do this using the most modern analytical tools. The process is expensive and time-consuming, but it can give very valuable benefits to the company, like better profits, higher consumer lifetime value, lower consumer acquisition cost, lesser waste, etc. The process is called operations analytics, and it gives valuable insights into the business. This type of analytics enables the company to use datasets to drive KPIs and achieve business goals.
By implementing operations analytics, you are becoming a data-driven company where decisions are made based on past incidents and accurate forecasting. This method allows even non-technical teams like sales and marketing to use the data to improve customer experience and loyalty. It brings all the data in different platforms together and helps you know what happens in each conversation, platform and team. The company can understand user behaviour patterns, app usage information and demographic details.
Benefits Of Operations Analytics
- Helps Decision Making
Making the right decisions is crucial for any business. Decisions were earlier made based on guesswork and instinct. With operations analytics, it is possible to make the right decisions to drive the business forward. In a traditional setup, companies will know about any mistakes only when they see the quarterly reports. But by analysing data in real-time, they can spot the inefficiencies and solve them immediately. It is very much necessary in the case of customer service because a delay in solving issues can result in losing a client.
- Improved Customer Experience
Companies that employ operations analytics can provide customers with a better experience as they can quickly detect deficiencies in service. Suppose a company has a problem with its online portal, it can be the reason for many customers not buying the product. With real-time analysis, the organisation can detect the problem and solve it immediately. The same is also true with understanding market trends and changing company policies accordingly to ensure that they provide a better customer experience than competitors. Customers will appreciate a company that takes immediate steps to resolve their issues.
- Increased Productivity
Various processes are being executed in a company as part of their business. There may be inefficiencies in some sections affecting the organisation’s productivity. Analysing data on a real-time basis makes it possible to know where the poor performance occurs. Operations analytics helps to know which department or employee is not performing as expected and needs more training or support. It helps to remove inefficiencies and improve the speed of work. This results in the overall improvement of productivity in the firm.
- Better Employee Engagement
A company is made up of its employees, and they must all perform efficiently for the business to achieve its goals. Access to data is very important for workers to do their duties efficiently. Most of the data a firm generates are placed in different places and are not easily accessible to people without technical knowledge. Performing operations analytics makes the data easily available to everyone in the firm. It also provides staff members with valuable insights into their work and how they can improve it. Access to data makes the employees better engaged and productive.
Also Read: A Beginner’s Guide To Operations Management
Operations Analytics Case Studies
Case Study 1
Making Painting Process More Efficient
There were undue delays in getting the products ready for delivery in a manufacturing unit. The company realised there was much delay in the paint shop, which must paint each part before sending them for assembly. It was not that the paint shop was idle or slow in their work. The problem was that they were painting the parts in the wrong sequence. It delayed the assembly and, subsequently, the delivery of products. Because of this, there was a large order backlog, and customers were getting impatient. The use of operations analytics solved the issue.
The company brought in to find a solution and saw that the paint shop had to rely on thirty ERP reports to decide which parts of the painting first. They didn’t have any idea about the sequence of the painting. The accuracy of planning was down to forty-seven per cent, and only nine per cent of the assembly was on schedule. The paint shop just picked up whichever piece was nearest and painted the same. This put the assembly section in a problem as they could only assemble the machines as per the right sequence. Let’s see how operations analytics helped the company with this problem.
The Solution
The problem was divided into two parts – planning and sequencing. There must be a correct sequence of the parts that are required by the assembly section. The solution providers used data transformation techniques to detail the items that were already painted, the demand for parts in the assembly section and the upstream work progress. For sequencing, the optimising of the sequence of parts being painted was done by applying the necessary algorithms. Various details about the painting process were taken, and operations analytics was applied to achieve proper planning and sequencing.
The results were astounding. The adherence to the schedule in the assembly line went up to a hundred per cent. The planning in the paint shop also achieved such results. This helped complete the entire backlog within four months. The company was able to keep its customers satisfied and achieve savings every year. Such results prompt more companies to perform operations analytics and improve their performance. You can learn more about this process in the Advanced Certificate Course In Operations, Supply Chain and Project Management. A visit to our website can enlighten you more about this course.
Case Study 2
Call Center Optimisation
The biggest annoyance for anyone who calls a call centre is hearing that there is a waiting time to attend to their calls. Customers are put on hold for a long time before the assistant attends to their calls. Whenever anyone selects a service provider, there are only two things the person will look for. Firstly it will be the quality of service, and secondly, it will be customer support. This is true for almost all services. Customer service is very important for retaining customers. Is it possible to solve the problem with operations analytics?
Companies use various media for customers to ask for support. These include call centres, IVR, social media and e-mail. Everyone knows that the one that is most used by customers is the call centre because everyone wants to hear a human voice that can resolve their issues. It is also the costliest one for the company. This means that every company wants to make the best use of people at the call centres so that they can get the maximum number of customers attended in a short period. This is where operations analytics come to the rescue.
The Solution
The initial step in solving the problem is to collect details about the customers and those who attend the calls. There are various types of customers, and each of these types takes a different duration to complete their calls. The relationship of the customer with the company, the service or product he has purchased, the place from where customers are calling and how long the customer has been using the service are factors that affect the duration of the call. The solution providers must also understand the nature of calls made by the customers.
The other data that is important is the characteristics of the call centre assistant. The experience of the assistant, the training given to them, the ability to understand customer accents and the number of calls they attend in a day are factors that decide the duration of calls. The aim of using operation analytics here is to reduce the call duration because that is what affects the cost per call for the company. Using algorithms, the service provider was able to change the order in which the allocation of calls was made, reducing the average call duration greatly.
Other Common Use Cases For Operations Analytics
Sales Teams Can Achieve More Sales
Sales teams are always under constant pressure to achieve more sales. They are also tasked with making several decisions in their daily activities. These decisions can be the difference between winning or losing business. One of the most important duties for any sales personnel is to send messages to their customers. They must look at previous interactions, customer preferences and interests of the customer before sending the message. Operations analytics help to bring all the messages from different tools to one place so that it is easy to check earlier interactions with the customer.
Marketing Department Can Enhance Customer Experience
Customer experience is very important for a company to ensure that customers complete their purchases and return for more. One of the problems that most online shops face is cart abandonment. The marketing teams send messages to the customer regarding pending items in their cart to prompt them to complete the purchase. But this will require customising the messages to entice the customer to finish purchasing the item. Operations analytics makes it possible for the marketing team to tailor the messages to suit customers and situations. This improves customer experience greatly and results in repeat purchases.
Also Read: Roles and Functions of Operations Management
Product Management Teams Make Better Products
Introducing a product that attracts customers and provides solutions for their problems is crucial for a company’s success. For this, the product management team must know what exactly the customer needs and what features will make the product beat competition. Information about the usage of the product and customer preferences for features is crucial to develop the ideal product. Operations analytics helps the product team get insights into how they can create a product that will grab the attention of customers and make them try it. Real-time data allows the team to make better decisions.
Predictive Maintenance For Services And Machines
One of the issues that many streaming platforms face is connectivity or other issues that disrupt streaming. It is of utmost importance to resolve the issue quickly to prevent customers from switching to other service providers. Operations analytics helps in getting real-time data that can be used to detect the problem and solve it immediately. Similarly, companies offering services for machines like wind turbines and oil drills placed in remote locations will benefit greatly by getting advanced information on their health. It will prevent failures and enable timely maintenance.
There are many ways in which establishments can greatly benefit by implementing operations analytics. You can learn more about this process by joining the Advanced Certificate Course In Operations, Supply Chain And Project Management. Our website can give you more details about this course and how you will benefit from it.
Conclusion
Companies are constantly looking at ways to reduce costs, improve profits and enhance customer experience. The proper use of available data can greatly help in achieving all these goals. Analysing the data will bring out valuable insights that enable the organisation to make better decisions. All departments benefit from operations analytics, and this results in the overall improvement in efficiency and productivity of the firm. The above case studies prove that the process helps in saving money and improving customer experience.
More Information:
What Is The Scope Of Operations Management?
What Are The Objectives Of Operations Management?
