//case study
Mercedes-Benz Vans UK
Efficiency & Effectiveness
Mercedes-Benz is one of the most recognisable brands in the world. In the UK, their product offering in the light commercial vehicle market is legendary with customer service to match.
THE BACKGROUND
With the onset of big shifts in consumer behaviour and vehicle technology, the Mercedes team had created an ambitious strategy for the UK brand and were looking to align their internal capabilities to help deliver this over the medium term.
The brand was moving forward rapidly to embrace the latest technology and deploy it within the customer experience. However, the technology underpinning the running of the business was heavily reliant upon manual processing of data, excel reporting and large amounts of time and resource dedicated to reporting.
​
With the approaching changes to the brand's business model, there was a real urgency to move this area of the business forward.
​
Metryx were engaged to review the existing landscape, understand the support required to deliver the brand's objectives and put in place a clear strategy to transform the company's ability to generate powerful insight and act upon it with clarity and speed.
Cost-to-Serve Modelling
THE APPROACH
To understand the current reality we catalogued every reporting output across the organisation and who exactly was using it. We then interviewed key stakeholders in the business, from the Board to the data analyst teams, to understand the different needs of each user and key audiences.
The reporting audit presented real opportunities for automation and a clear route to streamline reporting for more effective analysis and cut-through insight.
​
It was also clear that the differing stakeholders had very different needs for insight, ranging from a quick health-check of the key indicators, through to deep analysis of sectors or product ranges.
With fantastic engagement from the Mercedes team we set about creating a future landscape focused around two principles; Efficiency and Effectiveness.
With the the combined effect of electrification, mobility and connected vehicles, the value chain of automotive manufacturing and retail is set to radically transform. Against this backdrop, the brand was looking to gain significant efficiency to be able to focus more energy on these emerging concepts.
​
To support this aim, the first stage of transformation involved the automation of current reporting to deliver self-serve insight through desktop, tablet and mobile dashboards - each one tailored to senior management, operational management and analyst level needs.
The drive for effectiveness came with increases in speed and accuracy of decision-making based on real cut-through insight. Through our own analytics studio, we developed a branded data-store for the business, the 'MB Insight Engine' to allow quick access to key insight and cutting edge functionality for deep dive analysis work. The delivery was built on a Tableau framework to provide the team with a workbench for future analysis requirements.
The third principle involved the redesign of the business structure. The development of an organisation structure that moved away from report production to a more flexible, consultative relationship with the rest of the business. With most of the standardised reporting now automated and available to self-serve, the new Analytics Team are free to focus on understanding topical requirements from the business, delivering both timely, tactical insight as required and strategic market and consumer insight to support longer range planning.
Ready to get in touch?
We'd love to hear from you, at whatever stage you are at in the journey.
We work with organisations who are only just starting to think about analytics through to those who are fully up and running and need some specific support to move forward.
​
Contact us here.
THE DELIVERY
"Working with Metryx was a hugely valuable experience for the business. The team were able to combine technical capability with a strong commercial focus; ensuring the product not only functions well but also delivers a tangible impact on our decision-making."
​
"By developing both the data environment and the front-end visuals, Metryx did a lot of the 'heavy lifting' for us, meaning we were able to hit the ground running and deliver real value early on."
​
Kevin Ferris
Head of Strategic Planning
Mercedes-Benz Vans UK
With the launch of the 'Mercedes-Benz Insight Engine', the brand has become almost entirely self-serve for key business insight - whether it's the senior management team checking daily KPIs on the mobile dashboard or the product team receiving an in-depth recommendation on how to improve sales in the retail sector. The shift away from reporting has allowed the space to create a dedicated Insight team working alongside the business to dynamically inform decisions as the market evolves in real-time.
Metryx has been extremely proud to work with the Mercedes-Benz team, from creating a roadmap of first principles, to developing the data logic and front-end visualisations in our own Analytics Studio. We're delighted to now see the transformation delivering real cut-through insight for the business to move forward into an exciting new era.
We are proud to associate ourselves with clients and partners across a range of sectors
