The Balkan Services team has successfully implemented new Business Intelligence (BI) software at TESY, the leading Bulgarian and European manufacturer of electric water heaters, indirect-fired water heaters, and home heaters.

The home appliance company has four factories located in Shumen and Smiadovo. In 2023, TESY started construction of a new modern plant for thermodynamic water heaters, which is expected to be operational in 2024.

Thanks to its innovative approach to the market and products and a dynamic team of highly motivated specialists, the company currently markets its products in over 60 countries on 4 continents, with its sales revenue growing by double digits every year. TESY started its expansion outside Bulgaria in 1997 to reach today the top 3 manufacturer in Europe in its industry, with an annual production capacity of 1.5 million units.

 

TESY and "smart" technology

In 2014, the company went live with the state-of-the-art QlikView business analytics software, implemented by the Balkan Services team. The successful collaboration between the two companies dates back to that time.

In line with its vision of being a global leader in innovation and creating advanced solutions for warmth and comfort, TESY switched to the latest-generation Business Intelligence (BI) tool Qlik Sense to modernize its analytics.

 

Step by step

The BI project started with preliminary meetings with key users of the system on TESY's side, during which the potential for upgrading the reports and insights in Qlik Sense was identified.

An important task concerning the analysis of order management and fulfillment arose at a later stage and was successfully resolved.

A brand new functionality has also been created for Qlik Sense, through which TESY tracks what bills of lading orders need to be loaded to be shipped.

Essential to the project was the development of a direct data pull capability from the SAP ERP system, allowing the analysis of additional data that had not previously been analyzed in QlikView.

In their work, TESY created various forecasts and plans. This business specificity is also reflected in the new BI system, which makes comparisons between actual data and sales plans. In this way, the company can assess how accurate its forecasts and plans are and react on time.

The TESY reporting system also has several separate groups at the analytics level - company, customers (by channel, country, and region), and products (code and product name).

All reports in the BI system can be converted into Euros and Euros with one click and can be presented as consolidated or as unconsolidated sales, which is important for sales in different countries.

An "ABC" analysis functionality has also been developed which comes into use immediately, facilitating product lifecycle planning.

 

QlikView and Qlik Sense

The way data is extracted and processed in the two analytics systems is similar. Qlik Sense software has a different and significantly more modern interface - buttons, new colors, and different organization of selections.

To make the transition to the new analytical tool easier, our team created an application with training materials for working with the basic functionalities of Qlik Sense. In the case of TESY, they are in English, as the users of the system are from different countries.

 

Plans and sales

The new software makes it easier for TESY to track its sales and compare them with predefined plans. The system also analyses the company's financial situation in terms of material turnover, receivables and payables. In Qlik Sense, cash flows are tracked also the material turnover.

New functionalities concerning production are to be developed in the future.

 

Success factors

The different stages of the project are distributed among several Balkan Services teams who are familiar with the current TESY applications and data in QlikView.

Communication between the two teams is at a very high level, accompanied by regular meetings to monitor progress.

The impressions of the collaboration shared by the TESY representatives are that the Balkan Services team has a detailed knowledge of the project, which ensures its good outcome.

In this case it is also important to note the good cooperation between the project managers from both sides, which facilitated the work process.

The successful completion of the project is due to the competence of the people who worked on it, as well as to TESY's determination to make it happen and the support of the management who recognized Qlik as the company's analytics and business intelligence tool.