B/E Aerospace, Inc

The world's leading manufacturer of aircraft cabin interior products, and a leading aftermarket distributor of aircraft component parts, B/E Aerospace, Inc. serves virtually all of the world's airlines and aircraft manufacturers. The company designs, develops, manufactures, sells and services a broad line of passenger cabin interior products for both commercial aircraft and business jets, and provides interior design, econfiguration and conversion services to its customers throughout the world.

Challenge

B/E Aerospace is a leading supplier to the commercial aviation market. Business challenges arise from the fact that this is a global market, with a diverse customer base, in a highly cyclical industry. Additional challenges come from the company's history of acquisitions. From 1987 through early 2001, B/E Aerospace acquired 22 businesses, many of which had decades of experience in the industry and their own established practices.

These acquisitions resulted in an organization that today employs more than 3,500 people and operates 11 principal manufacturing facilities in Europe and North America. This growth necessitated the integration of a variety of legacy systems. B/E Aerospace met this challenge by deploying a J.D. Edwards World Vision ERP solution on the IBM® eServer iSeries™ (AS/400®) computing platform. However, the company found itself with more complex reporting needs than this system could satisfy. The system did not allow managers to simply access key company data or easily create ad hoc queries and reports. B/E Aerospace needed a scalable solution that could integrate with its ERP system; provide reports to managers throughout its diverse, global operations; offer personalized user interaction; and perform in real time.

"Our products are on virtually every commercial aircraft in the world and, since airlines view cabin interiors as a way to differentiate their brands, each fleet is equipped differently. So the ability to have immediate access to different configuration information is mission-critical," explains Roman Ptakowski, group vice president and general manager, B/E Aerospace. "Also, because the aviation market is extremely cost-conscious, it's imperative that B/E's IT department create a ‘zero-friction' environment to facilitate efficient, cost-effective operations. To achieve this, we needed a solution that would provide users with instantaneous information, improve the efficiency of B/E's business processes, increase the velocity of B/E's fulfillment cycle, as well as support more informed business decisions that would ultimately have a positive impact on our bottom line."

Solution

By implementing a business intelligence solution using the ShowCase® Suite from SPSS from SPSS, B/E Aerospace was able to run routine reports against its ERP system and also create ad hoc reports, providing managers with immediate access to company information in real time.

Almost immediately, our investment in the ShowCase Suite paid for itself. We feel that we have only scratched the surface with this SPSS technology, and look forward to continued results once the application is implemented in additional departments and facilities.

Roman Ptakowski
Group VP and General Manager
B/E Aerospace, Inc.

Results

With support from the ShowCase Suite technology, B/E Aerospace has accomplished the following key business objectives:

• 1200% ROI in one year on the implementation in its aftermarket sales operation, due to improved product margins
• Immediate access to critical information that has enabled the company to save money for its customers
• Reduction in time spent by the IT department on report generation, resulting in better staff utilization
• Ability to provide the CEO with up-to-theminute information on company operations

"Our criteria in selecting this solution were that it be able to gather information from a variety of sources and work with a variety of tools, that it be easy and intuitive for users with a wide range of computer literacy, and that it show a positive ROI by reducing costs and improving margins. The ShowCase Suite from SPSS fully met these criteria."

Initial applications

B/E Aerospace first deployed the ShowCase Suite to support the information needs of its aftermarket sales efforts. Almost two-thirds of the company's revenues come from upgrades, refurbishments and spare parts for existing aircraft. Since commercial aircraft stay in service for decades, B/E Aerospace must maintain a large inventory of FAA-approved replacement parts. Using the Essbase component of the ShowCase Suite, B/E Aerospace created a ultidimensional database, or "cube," that allowed it to analyze both the pricing of its replacement parts and its customers' ordering patterns. This analysis allowed the company to show its customers how changing their ordering patterns would save them money. As a result, B/E Aerospace was able to improve margins in this critical business area while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction.

A second application was in the company's marketing/sales department. Here, the ShowCase Suite enabled B/E Aerospace to monitor orders, revenue and backlog data, and track previously unavailable metrics, including:

• On-time shipment performance against promised date
• On-time shipment performance against customer request date
• Average number of days to ship

By using the solution's Analyzer component, B/E Aerospace managers were able to create views of data simply by pointing and clicking on relevant details. Analyzer even allowed users to filter data according to their own needs, and sort, rank and graph results. Through these detailed analyses, B/E Aerospace was able to improve its business processes, and simultaneously save money for its customers and improve its own bottom line.

Currently, the company has five or six "power users" of the solution, while an additional 40 key managers in a variety of functional areas at nine plants use it to analyze specific reports. B/E Aerospace also uses the solution's Enterprise Reporting component to make reports available to more than a hundred staff members worldwide over a company intranet. In each of these applications, B/E Aerospace used Essbase to develop what-if scenarios that enabled managers to better anticipate the impact that changes in customer or market dynamics might have on their operations. These scenarios enabled the company to be more proactive in its planning and forecasting and, therefore, manage resources more effectively.

Internally, B/E Aerospace bestowed a special name, MIDAS, on this SPSS solution. The purpose of the new name, according to Ptakowski, was to emphasize to the user community that the solution was "My Data Source" — designed to meet their analytical needs — and to remind them that with it they could turn data into gold for their company!

Additional applications

Under development is an application for the purchasing department that will enable B/E Aerospace to analyze its use of raw materials and pre-assembled parts, and finetune its processes for acquiring, distributing and storing these critical product components. The goal of this application is to achieve a 15% reduction in expenditures. The company also plans to implement the ShowCase Suite at additional plant locations.

Over the next two years, the company intends to fully deploy the ShowCase Suite at its remaining facilities. Also, B/E Aerospace is looking to expand the solution's use to other areas of the business, including finance and inventory.

"Almost immediately, our investment in the ShowCase Suite paid for itself," said Ptakowski. "We feel that we have only scratched the surface with this SPSS technology, and look forward to continued results once the application is implemented in additional departments and facilities."