OTC Insights Team
Established in 1963, OTC Industrial Technologies is one of the largest industrial distributors & service providers in the United States. We're committed to seeing industrial operations advance through expert technical solutions & unmatched support using our years of experience.
OTC Industrial Technologies, a company with a mission of building efficiency and providing solutions for manufacturers, is also focused on building internal efficiency.
For OTC and its customers, this means consolidating financials across OTC's 65 branches and 54 service and repair locations. Providing intuitive data dashboards gives OTC employees a single access point for financial information, allowing customer service and frontline employees to focus better on customer needs rather than internal processes.
The company has experienced tremendous growth. Business leaders wanted to integrate the internal processes of different business units and drive consistency in financial reports across divisions. OTC has been focused on finding ways to offer a seamless customer experience as its internal teams provide multiple services from different business units to a single customer.
Integrating multiple business units reliably and consistently with OTC’s internal processes isn’t an easy task. After conducting research on different software and systems, OTC decided to implement a comprehensive Enterprise Performance Management solution (EPM). An EPM solution aggregates data from many disparate sources to enable centralized analysis of data and drive better and faster decision-making to enhance efficiency and profitability.
Boosting Efficiency with Technology and Data
After reviewing options, the OTC team realized that an EPM solution would not only simplify internal processes but also provide better financial data analytics between the divisions. The intuitive financial system could consolidate the business segments into one platform.
The data collected and managed by the EPM could be interacted with and extrapolated in real time. It wouldn’t just provide static numbers in a report. Finding a solution that could not only consolidate multiple business segments but also provide an array of essential features was a challenge.
The team at OTC, led by Jeremy Hall, the Director of Enterprise Intelligence and Transformation, did an exhaustive review of the different EPM systems on the market. They reviewed not only the features and capabilities of each software, but also how it could best support the work the company did for its customers.
After reviewing each of the software vendors with a complex scorecard model, a panel of OTC key stakeholders decided Board was the clear winner. The key features of Board included its "drill anywhere" data analysis capabilities, advanced and user-friendly UI, and a platform development model that allows internal teams to design the interfaces needed by stakeholders across OTC.
Increased Efficiency and Critical Data for OTC and Its Customers
Board consolidates financials across OTC’s branches and service and repair locations. It provides intuitive data dashboards that give OTC employees a real-time look at critical financial information. The 30 business units go to a single access point for financial and operational information. In addition, Board can automatically break down the hundreds of thousands of data points that comprise major financial line items. This continually updated reporting data serves as an essential source of information for OTC planning and operations.
Beyond financials, Board offers powerful operational reporting. It's rare for a service to have the features needed to organize a business as complex as OTC, but Board does. Using the EPM, OTC team members can organize, categorize, and access data directly from the ERP. This is work and information that would take hours to consolidate using legacy reporting programs.
After working with Board, OTC was able to drastically reduce the time it took to generate reports and summarize information. For example, in the past, an OTC team member needed to manually pull data from multiple sources, which took almost an hour each time. Now, this data is automatically compiled. The updated reporting enables employees to access the latest data and information instantly. They can drill down into the data, looking at the transactional data from multiple ERPs across the business units. Having data this granular and accessible empowers sales teams and improves operational analyses.
Looking to the Future with OTC
Satisfied with the results, the next phase of the project is focused on further operational and transactional reporting. OTC will be incorporating Board’s Lease Accounting feature, as well as the centralized corporate reporting dashboard for key performance metrics. The team is also implementing functionality to provide data analysis in additional areas, further providing operational insight and optimization.
OTC is focused on continued business growth and providing even more value to customers. With this operational reporting hub aggregating data from vendor and customer records, teams are able to provide the highest level of service to our customers.
