Brown Jug
INDUSTRY:
Liquor Retailer
Alaska’s largest retail liquor company uses BI4Dynamics to help identify gaps in processes and produce insightful Dynamics 365 F&O reports in Power BI across inventory, sales, and payables.
Out-of-the-Box Reports Save Significant Time and Effort for Analysts
RESULTS:
- Rapid Implementation of Reports: Analysts could quickly deploy Power BI dashboards without needing to learn the complex Dynamics 365 F&O data structures.
- Access to Extensive KPIs: Leveraged 2,074 pre-built BI fields covering all F&O application areas, facilitating comprehensive reporting across sales, inventory, and finance.
IMPACT:
- Significant Time Savings: Allowed the team to focus on data analysis and strategic decision-making rather than spending time on report preparation.
- Immediate ROI: Delivered faster insights leading to immediate return on investment and enhanced productivity.
Near Real-Time Data Access Enhances Timely Decision-Making
RESULTS:
- Direct Data Lake Integration: BI4Dynamics pulls data directly from the Dynamics 365 F&O data lake, providing near-real-time data in all reports.
- Timely Stakeholder Reporting: Executives and management now have up-to-date reports across inventory, retail, and payables.
IMPACT:
- Informed Decision-Making: Enabled stakeholders to make quick, informed decisions based on the most current data available.
- Operational Efficiency: Improved efficiency across all 22 stores by utilizing best-practice data models and leveraging Azure and Power BI capabilities.
Consultative Support Improved Data Understanding and Revealed Process Gaps
RESULTS:
- Enhanced Data Knowledge: BI4Dynamics team provided group sessions that deepened understanding of Dynamics 365 F&O and internal processes.
- Identification of Critical Gaps: Uncovered crucial gaps in operations and finance, such as missing inventory postings that could have affected results.
IMPACT:
- Clean Data Maintenance: Ensured the maintenance of clean data for accurate analysis and reporting.
- Increased Productivity: Helped define processes and boosted productivity in daily activities through better data insights.
BI4Dynamics Helps Brown Jug Retailer Achieve Near Real-Time Sales & Inventory Reporting in Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O and Power BI
Company
Founded in 1937, Brown Jug has grown to become Alaska’s premier retailer of fine wine, spirits & beer in the state with 22 locations in the Anchorage, Eagle River, and Wasilla areas. Brown Jug employs over 200 Alaskans and generates more than $80 million in annual revenues. Since being purchased by Afognak Native Corporation and returning to local ownership in 2020, Brown Jug has committed hundreds of thousands of dollars to local causes and remains one of the most recognizable brands in the state.
The Situation
Before using BI4Dynamics, Brown Jug had recently transitioned from a legacy point of sale solution (POS) to Microsoft® Dynamics™ F&O. The team found themselves lacking in the knowledge and understanding of the F&O data structure and tables, which made building Power BI reports from scratch very challenging, even for their seasoned team of data analysts.
“Our transition was rapid, and we needed reporting quickly, so we looked for a solution vendor with expertise and knowledge in Dynamics 365 F&O. We stopped looking when we found BI4Dynamics.”
Rustin Ruhl
Director of Business Intelligence – Afognak Native Corporation/Brown Jug
We chose BI4Dynamics for its plug-and-play data warehouse capabilities and out-of-the-box Dynamics 365 F&O reports – not to mention the knowledge of the implementation team and support staff. These key factors helped us quickly implement Power BI dashboards and reports and see an immediate return on our investment,” continued Rustin.
Since starting with BI4Dynamics, Brown Jug has realized several benefits, including:
- Achieving best-practice data models
- Tremendous time savings
- Near real-time reporting for stakeholders
- Better understanding of the business
A Better Understanding of Dynamics 365 F&O Data
Because Dynamics 365 F&O was a new solution for the Brown Jug team, it was difficult to identify if and where gaps existed in the data. The BI4Dynamics implementation team worked with the Brown Jug finance and data teams to analyze its specific data and identify where there were gaps in the process and any ‘dirty data’ that would affect reporting.
“The BI4Dynamics team was amazing at analyzing our data in a group setting. Everyone left the call knowing more about Dynamics 365 and our processes than when they joined. This level of consultative guidance is above and beyond what we expected from a solution vendor and was a crucial step in ensuring we maintain clean data for analysis,”
Rustin Ruhl
Director of Business Intelligence – Afognak Native Corporation/Brown Jug
Insights into Process Gaps
Using BI4Dynamics out-of-the-box reports, Brown Jug was able to identify critical gaps in its operations and finance processes.
“BI4Dynamics showed us we were missing certain inventory postings.
This would have been almost impossible to identify without BI4Dynamics, and this gap would have affected our results.”
Rustin Ruhl
Director of Business Intelligence – Afognak Native Corporation/Brown Jug
Time Savings
BI4Dynamics comes with out-of-the-box access to 2074 BI fields (KPIs) in F&O, making it easy for Brown Jug to report on all F&O application areas across sales, receivables, inventory, and finance.
“BI4Dynamics out-of-the-box reports have saved our analysts a tremendous amount of time versus learning the data structure and creating F&O reports on our own”
Rustin Ruhl
Director of Business Intelligence – Afognak Native Corporation/Brown Jug
Fully Supported with BI4Dynamics
Rustin and his team are happy with the relationship they have built with BI4Dynamics and the level of support throughout the implementation and post-launch process.
“The implementation experience we experienced with BI4Dynamics has been A++. I was very impressed by the professionalism, knowledge, and guidance we received.”
Rustin Ruhl
Director of Business Intelligence – Afognak Native Corporation/Brown Jug
Near Real-Time Reporting
Brown Jug executives and corporate management staff now leverage BI4Dynamics for timely reports across inventory, retail, and payables. “Because BI4Dynamics pulls data directly from our Dynamics 365 F&O data lake, our users get near-real-time data in all of our reports – and they love that,” said Rustin. “We are now working to introduce BI4Dynamics reports to all of our 22 stores to continue to leverage best-practice data models and the incredible power of Azure and Power BI for business insights.”
“BI4Dynamics is helping to define our processes and increase productivity in day-to-day activities. In less than a year, BI4Dynamics has already paid for itself.”
Rustin Ruhl
Director of Business Intelligence – Afognak Native Corporation/Brown Jug
“We still use the team’s experience to help our BI analysts and operations team better understand F&O and our business as we grow.””
Rustin Ruhl
Director of Business Intelligence – Afognak Native Corporation/Brown Jug
