5 Real-Life Examples of Business Intelligence in Action
Modern businesses must rely on factual insights to make informed decisions. This is where business intelligence (BI) comes in handy, providing a unified view of relevant data, accessible to all stakeholders. In this article, we explore five real-life examples of BI in action.
1. Retail
Data analysis serves the retail industry in many ways, such as clustering their customers based on their purchase history. This can help retailers to optimize their inventory management, provide personalized offers, deals, and customer service. BI tools can also track the competition and support retailers in developing innovative strategies. An excellent example of BI in retail is ‘AmazonGo.’ A fully automated store, where customers walk in, pick their desired products, and walk out, while all purchases are charged automatically.
2. Healthcare
With BI, healthcare professionals can now access the electronic health records of patients. This data can help identify underlying conditions, search for patterns of illnesses, and predict outcomes for individual patients or populations. An example of BI in healthcare is the ‘IBM Watson Health’ system that uses predictive analytics and machine learning to detect cancer and develop personalized oncology treatments.
3. Finance
BI has become crucial in the finance industry to make informed decisions on financial matters and risk management. Real-time monitoring of financial activities and market trends has become essential. BI analyzes large datasets and produces forecasted reports, providing investment insights. Credit reporting agencies, such as ‘Experian,’ rely on BI to provide insightful analysis of consumer creditworthiness.
4. Manufacturing
Manufacturing companies use BI tools for supply chain management, quality control, and optimizing production processes. They track their operations’ performance to make informed decisions and manage costs effectively. An example of BI in manufacturing is the ‘General Electric’ company. GE uses BI tools to monitor the performance of the components of its machines and predict when they could fail. This has led to crucial maintenance savings for many of GE’s customers.
5. Transportation
Transportation companies rely on BI to optimize capacity management, track fleet locations, and make data-driven decisions on route planning. The ‘UPS’ company uses BI to optimize its routes and prevent trucks from left-turn-only roads. This reduces travel time, saves fuel, and reduces carbon footprint.
Conclusion
BI tools provide valuable insights across industries to make data-driven decisions, improve customer satisfaction, boost productivity, reduce costs, and increase revenue. This article highlights five real-life examples of BI in action, but there are endless possibilities for deploying BI successfully. The future relies on businesses adopting BI and using it to gain a competitive edge in their respective markets.
