More Efficiency and Structure
The JURA Materials Group uses iVIEW to implement an efficient ETL link between SAP FICO and QLIK
“We wanted to build a standard ETL process based on best practice that would enable us to have automated, reliable data transfer from SAP to Qlik Sense. We also wanted to map our complex business logic centrally and provide an efficient and user-friendly FICO dashboard based on Qlik. We can do this with iVIEW, a tool for Qlik Sense developed by Qlik Partner Informatec.“
Etienne Frey, Analytics Manager at the JURA Materials Group
The Customer
The JURA Materials Group includes leading Swiss companies from the building materials industry. The core expertise includes cement production, gravel extraction, concrete production, recycling and disposal as well as the combination of the different areas for individual solutions. The group of companies employs around 500 people at 30 locations. The total solution provider for building materials has been part of the international building materials group CRH since 2000.
Solution at a glance
INDUSTRY Building materials | Departments controlling, finance, management, production & maintenance |
REGION Aarau, Switzerland | Data Sources SAP |
Utilized Technologies Qlik Sense, iVIEW Dataflow, iVIEW for SAP | ROI & Time-to-value Automated data transfer from SAP to Qlik Sense, easily maintainable ETL route |
Initial Situation
Qlik Sense as a central BI Solution
“At JURA Materials, the data analytics software Qlik Sense ensures transparency about data from a wide range of company areas. The data analytics solution is used, among other things, in the areas of finance and controlling, as Etienne Frey, Analytics Manager at the JURA Materials Group, explains: “Our group of companies is spread across different facilities. In total we are represented at 30 locations. We are also active in different divisions with different products.”
This results in relatively complex financial management, which we map transparently with Qlik dashboards based on data from SAP FICO. For data transfer from SAP to Qlik, the building materials specialist wanted to develop a standardized ETL route between SAP and Qlik Sense using a best-practice approach.
Solution
Informatec provides support with SAP expertise and iVIEW Data Automation Framework
The JURA Materials Group sought support from Informatec. “The decisive factor for us was the comprehensive know-how regarding Qlik and SAP as well as the general topic of data management,” says Etienne Frey. “Informatec also offers predefined standards and a tool that supports the development and maintenance of ETL pipelines.”
This refers to iVIEW Dataflow, a low-code ETL tool developed by Informatec, as a module within the iVIEW Data Automation Framework.
iVIEW Dataflow enables the central management and distribution of business content across Qlik applications. The application further automates the deployment process for a company’s entire Qlik ecosystem.
The template solution iVIEW for SAP provides a basis for extracting, structuring and providing SAP data. This makes it easier to create visualizations and dashboards with operational insights.
Due to the automated coding process and the existing solution templates for the SAP MODULE FI and CO, iVIEW was set up with little time and effort. The JURA Materials Group was able to put the new ETL line into operation after just three months. “The majority of the project duration was spent on very intensive testing because we wanted to ensure that the data retrieval ran correctly,” adds Etienne Frey.
Informatec supported the JURA Materials Group throughout the entire project. “Informatec supported and advised us in particular in building the ETL pipeline and in implementing the business logic in iVIEW Dataflow. Meanwhile, in consultation with controlling, I was able to take care of setting up the FICO logic and validating the data,” says Etienne Frey. “Informatec demonstrated both technical understanding and financial and controlling know-how, which was very helpful. The collaboration was easy and cooperative.”
The data is loaded incrementally once per night. This saves system resources and minimizes the time required for the data load. Qlik Sense is used by users from controlling, finance, production and maintenance as well as management who currently use Qlik Sense.
Standard and Structure for the ETL Process
By using iVIEW Dataflow, the JURA Materials Group benefits from regulated, reusable ETL processes without scripting and with a high level of automation. The result is significantly reduced time required for data transfer from SAP to Qlik Sense. The automated direct access to SAP tables also ensures high data quality and timeliness
Application Areas and Users
Central mapping of the business logic in iVIEW Dataflow
A big advantage for Etienne Frey are the logic parameters available in iVIEW Dataflow. This allows business rules to be defined centrally and via a web interface. For example, if changes to business logic are required, access is easy and direct via iVIEW Dataflow.
“This is a very important point for us: Due to our corporate structure, the JURA Materials Group has built up a lot of complex business logic,” explains Etienne Frey. “In our group of companies we have different companies and divisions that calculate with different units of quantity. This construct brings with it certain peculiarities and difficulties in terms of ERP and accounting technology, which then also become apparent in the data structures. Our goal was to display financial and controlling key figures. This combination of FI and CO means that the raw data in SAP has to be accessed in different ways for certain calculations – depending on whether, for example, an accounting-oriented view is used in material procurement or a controlling-oriented view with regard to the further evaluation of the data quantities purchased. The level of detail of the analysis is also different from the FI or CO perspective, i.e. at the company level or at the factory level.”
On the one hand, the central mapping of such business rules in iVIEW Dataflow makes them transparent. On the other hand, access and reuse for additional dashboards is much easier and more efficient.
The scalability of iVIEW also offers future security – this makes it easy to process large amounts of data from other SAP modules.
“With iVIEW Dataflow we have gained structure and transparency in terms of both the ETL route and the FICO business logic while at the same time optimizing our data quality.“
Etienne Frey, Analytics Manager at the JURA Materials Group
Summary
Challenges
Automation of data transfer from SAP ECC 6.0 to Qlik Sense
Solution
Implementation of iVIEW for data integration from SAP FICO into Qlik Sense
Results
Automated, structured data transfer
Standardized ETL route and business logic
Time saving
Easy maintainability
Scalability