Microsoft helped Lianhua supermarket build a business intelligence system

 

Project Background:

Lianhua supermarket ( Hereinafter referred to as Lianhua ) Created on 1991 Year 5 Yue is the first supermarket company in Shanghai that features the development of chain stores. Company 2005 The annual operating income has reached 143.1 RMB million, compared 2004 Annual Growth 31.85% And ranked top in the chain industry in China for eight consecutive years. As 2005 At the end of the year, Lianhua had a total of outlets 3609 Large supermarkets 97 Home and supermarket 1553 Home and convenience stores 1959 Home, all over China 21 Provinces and cities.

Data Warehouse path

Lianhua's informatization construction started1996Is one of the earliest supermarkets in China's retail informatization construction. The initial Informatization Construction of Lianhua started with the store,1996Year-1998Year, formed at the store level based on Pos Management System.1997At the end of the year, Lianhua started EDI The Automatic ordering system is fully built from1999Year3It is officially put into use in the month.2001Year2Month, Lianhua began implementation"Supplier Integrated Service Platform"Module, which is B2B Through this module, the Lianhua procurement center can use automatic fax E- MailAndEDIAnd other methods to quickly pass the order information to the supplier, the supplier can also go to this platform to query their own goods sales and inventory information.2002Year10In the month, Lianhua began to establish a comprehensive large-scale network system between Stores and Procurement Centers and between stores and suppliers. Data Warehouse pathANo 'B + w % {@

T6 ': U? U/x * ^ U. Q BThrough the construction of these systems, Lianhua rationally arranges production and inventory, greatly improving efficiency and greatly reducing logistics distribution costs. When the competition tends to be homogeneous, only by better serving customers can they gain a competitive advantage. This also requires retail enterprises to have the ability to analyze and mine business data, this allows you to gain a deeper understanding of your business development. In this case, Lianhua supermarket startedBi (Business Intelligence)System construction.

Solution:

 

Lianhua once usedUNIXPlatform, building experimental and disruptiveBiApplication, as the company's strategic needs to expand the scale, the originalBiThe system is difficult to meet the company's daily requirements. The company needs to analyze more data, perform more in-depth and comprehensive analysis, and quickly and flexibly query reports. In2005In the second half of the year, Lianhua began preparing to build a newBiSystem.

 

InBiIn terms of system solution design, the company has two options: one is to follow the first phaseBiSystem design, from databases, application servers, and front-end platformsUNIX. Another solution is to use Microsoft's platform, and the database, application server, and front-end all adopt Microsoft products. After discussion and careful consideration, the company finally chose to use the Microsoft platform."Microsoft provides a rich range of functions and complete solutions for our system, and greatly saves our project investment."The project owner of Lianhua company introduced,"We finallyWebIn terms of serversWindows Server 2003Platform, database adopts Microsoft'sSQL Server 2005Front-end adopts Microsoft's IE ."

TheBiThe main function of the system solution is to provide business data analysis for Lianhua. The entire system consists of four layers. For details, see.

Store stores and suppliers in supermarkets need to transmit and process a large amount of data every day. Data Warehouses can unify the differences between different data sources and clean up unreasonable data in the online system, this ensures data accuracy, timeliness, and response speed. Data Warehouses can also intelligently perform data loading, cleaning, and conversion processes, greatly reducing the workload of subsequent maintenance personnel.

•Multidimensional analysis reports(OLAP)Data Warehouse path

The data warehouse only collects and stores data. For the data analysis function, thisBiThe system provides multidimensional analysis models and multidimensional analysis reports.. NetThis technology provides report analysis and fully meets the analysis requirements of customized reports and flexible queries by various business departments.

•Analysis of specific topics

Specific theme analysis refers to the characteristics of the retail industry, and some theme analysis developed, including the general managerKPIIndicator dashboard, comprehensive supplier performance evaluation, comprehensive store performance evaluation, quantitative analysis of sales promotion effects for specific holidays, quantitative analysis of sales promotion effects for specific products, and role tracking and comparative analysis of products of different formats in different periods.

•Business analysis indicators

Business analysis indicators include retail inventory preservation poly analysis budget, growth achievement rate index analysis, productivity analysis indicators, capital security analysis indicators, and yield analysis indicators. Through the analysis of business indicators, Lianhua supermarket can master its own business management status.

Project on 2005 Year 10 Implementation started in the month, 2006 The end of the year. Lianhua Bi The project uses a database server. - Application Server - The three-tier structure of the client browser, that is B/S ( Browser / Server ) Structure. This structure features superior performance, easy scalability, and easy maintenance. The client uses Microsoft's Ie6.1 Browser ; Web Application Server and OLAP All servers use Windows Server 2003 .

. The main server of the system uses 64 Bit Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, database adoption 64 Bit SQL server2005 Enterprise Edition, combined Intel 64 The server platform of the bit processor provides a stable and solid foundation for the system. Backup servers use 32 Bit Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition and SQL server2005 Enterprise Edition. Servers are all placed in the Headquarters data center of Lianhua, and the Data Exchange Platform is used to communicate with the Headquarters master database and branches. ( Including regions and formats ) Business systems and external systems, such as supplier systems. The outlets and end users of Lianhua access through Browsers respectively. Web Server to access Bi System application.

User Benefits and experience:

•Advanced performance and high scalability

MicrosoftSQL Server 2005Optimized for business intelligence, including related data warehouses, data analysis,ETLA series of design, development, and management tools for reports and data mining;SupportedXMLAndWeb ServiceMakeBiThe application can be convenient Internet Connection, various new data types andT-SQLExtendedSQL server2005It brings a lot of flexibility and strong scalability.64BitWindows Server 2003Enterprise Edition andSQL Server 2005For enterprise applicationsIntel 64Chip servers greatly improve the performance of the entire system.

•Easy to operate and easy to use

because of Microsoft's overall solution, entire Bi the system has been greatly improved in terms of operation and ease of use. Windows Server 2003 it has the advantages of simple operation and user-friendly interface, and has greatly improved security performance and network applications. SQL Server 2005 medium report service, integrated service and analysis service applications, and front-end ie the use of the browser also makes the entire Bi the system is easy to use and easy to use by customers and employees. The operation convenience of the system also improves the operating efficiency of the entire system.

•Stable and reliable system with high security performance

UseWindows Server 2003As a system platform, the entireBiThe system runs very stably.SQL Server 2005Provides New Security Authentication and data encryption technologies to enhance the security of data systems.;Database images, snapshots, point-in-time recovery, real-time online management, and other functions greatly improve system reliability.

• using Microsoft Solutions, greatly reducing the company's operating costs

WholeBiThe system uses Microsoft products to compare the initial procurement costs of software and hardware.UNIXThe platform is much lower, and the cost advantage of the Microsoft platform is even more prominent in daily operation and maintenance. The Microsoft platform is easy to operate, stable, and reliable, greatly reducingBiMaintenance personnel are required for the system. In addition, Microsoft provides users with technical support and rich technical resources, solving users' worries. Lianhua CompanyBiPreliminary Estimation by project owner"Implements the overall Microsoft solution.BiSystem Construction and O & M costs are at least saved30%The above costs."