Wrist is driven by data, analyzes and insights

Case: Wrist

With a new data strategy, Wrist has in record time gone from being guided by traditional reporting to today being driven by insights from data – with a modern Azure cloud data platform as the foundation.

New strategy paves the way for success

“We have come a long way in a very short time. Longer than you might expect. That could not have happened without the collaboration with twoday.”

These are the words of Birthe Boysen, Business Analysis Director at Wrist, who looks back on what she, in collaboration with her team, the rest of the organization and twoday, has achieved in the first year she has been employed at Wrist to make the organization more data-driven.

About a year ago, Wrist, the world’s leading ship supply supplier with 1,600 employees, launched a clear strategy to become a more digital and data-driven company. As part of the new strategy, new heads of IT and Business Analysis were hired to drive the development. And about a year later, they are a good testament to what executing on a focused strategy can do for an organization in a short space of time.

Data Assessment became the decision basis for the business

When Birthe Boysen entered the head office in Nørresundby, she could see that there was a high degree of reporting on historical data with a lot of numbers, tables and graphs. Wrist’s clear goal was to focus on Analytics and Insights instead, where they could use data to act on looking forward.

Birthe needed to get an overview of the overall data landscape. She asked twoday to provide a Data Assessment so she could get an assessment of where the organization stood.

To know more about Wrist’s data foundation, twoday conducted a large number of interviews with selected employees across departments and countries. It was complemented by technical deep dives into their current architecture.

Based on the analysis, twoday came up with a number of challenges with the current setup. The Data Assessment resulted in some tangible recommendations on where Wrist needed to change to fulfill their data strategy. Some of the most important were:

Establishing an Azure cloud data platform and migrating existing on-premise Data Warehouses to the cloud

More “core BI” – Onboarding of extra resources and increased focus on BI-related tasks

Make self-service possible with central governance

Align KPIs and have a unified data truth across the organization

"twoday's Data Assessment became the decision basis for what was to happen. We used it to see what our as-is looks like – both organizationally and technically – it understood where we wanted to go, and it told us what it took to get there. It was worth a lot, both as a process but also as a result".

Birthe Boysen, Business Analysis Director at Wrist

Azure data platform was co-built with twoday

In Wrist’s journey towards being driven by Analytics and Insights, a solid data foundation was needed. Wrist needed a platform that was scalable and made it possible to work with more advanced technologies such as predictive modeling and cognitive services.

Wrist chose to go with a Microsoft Azure cloud data platform that met all their needs. The implementation was made based on a co-build approach, where twoday slowly downsizes resources and lets Wrist take over.

As a result, Wrist gradually built up the skills needed to take full ownership of the cloud platform and continue the journey on their own. Birthe Boysen was enthusiastic about the collaboration.

“The collaboration to build our new data platform was very successful. It was a professional collaboration, a professional process, and there were no deviations. We have reached our goal within the given timeframe. And we have been able to take ownership of the platform by the time of launch without using twoday,” she says and concludes:

“It is one of the most well-implemented projects I have been part of. And I have been doing projects the past 25 years.”

An important part of the reason for the successful implementation was that Wrist chose to prioritize extra BI resources and hire additional staff in connection with the establishment of the new platform, who could drive the platform going forward.

The future is driven by data

Wrist has made quantum leaps in a short space of time when it comes to digitizing the business and becoming a data-driven business. The task ahead for Birthe and her team is to now transform the entire organization across countries and departments so that employees are geared to actively use Analytics and Insights everyday – a job they are well underway with.

When asked where Wrist is in terms of data in two years, Birthe answers promptly:

“In two years we are an organization who live and breathe data. Where everything we do is based on Analytics, and where we actively use predictions every day. And where data helps individual employees to become even better at their jobs. ”

Based on how far Wrist has come in a year, that does not seem like an unrealistic target.

About Wrist

Wrist er verdens førende skibsleverandør med 1600 ansatte og hovedkontor i Nørresundby. hvis et skib har brug for værktøj, stole, livveste eller proviant, så kan Wrist levere det. Positionen som verdens største er sket delvist gennem organisk vækst, men også af en række opkøb, siden virksomheden blev stiftet i 1955.

Wrist is the world’s leading ship supplier with 1600 employees and head office in Nørresundby. if a ship needs tools, chairs, life jackets or provisions, Wrist can supply it. The position as the world’s largest has taken place partly through organic growth, but also through a number of acquisitions since the company was founded in 1955.