Kopparberg had an extensive sales tracker which contained sales by product, by week for each of the top 4 grocery retailers. Updating it on a weekly basis however was a long and laborious task and once the data was in, it could only be viewed in a few predefined ways. This meant that to manipulate data account managers had to copy the data to a new file, re-format and write formulas to provide the summaries they required. What they wanted to do was unlock the power held within the existing data for the team in a time efficient way. Kopparberg approached Franklin John to see if we could help. We were able to transfer the data from the original tracker to a new document in a format which would work with a Pivot Table giving ultimate flexibility for data analysis. We also designed an input tool which converted each retailer’s data into a standard input for the tracker saving hours for the category analyst each week. Kopparberg now have a tracker with all the same summary sheets that they were familiar with from the old tracker, but they now update automatically from the standardised input, and the added ability to interrogate the data within the file without having to risk errors in extracting data and writing formulas. They can quickly switch between time periods, volume and distribution measures and from total brand down to sku level in seconds.
The Problem
The Solution
“The EPOS file is great, it makes the input process much more efficient and is very easy to use. In addition – the automation and Excel techniques used within the file are great and provide a slick solution to tracking our sales. With the guides you provided I have been able to systematically track down any issues and solve them when they have arisen. Furthermore I have been able to use some of the examples in this file to improve other excel-based systems that I have – so the reach and usefulness of this EPOS project has extended beyond the original brief.”