The Client

Our client is a global premium automobile manufacturer operating multiple production plants worldwide. With a production inventory valued at over €1 billion, the company oversees highly complex supply chains spanning from supplier pickup to material consumption on the factory floor.

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The Business Case

The automotive manufacturer faced a significant challenge with their production inventory management. The lack of global inventory standards and data transparency had led to excessive stock levels, unnecessarily tying up working capital across their manufacturing network. With an increasing global production footprint resulting in longer transportation lead times, increased geopolitical complexity, and greater planning and demand fluctuations, inventory levels have continuously increased.

Historically, securing production had been prioritized over optimizing inventory levels. The manual collection and aggregation of global inventory data was excessively time-consuming, making it difficult to analyze and optimize inventory across all plants. Combined with the company's increased focus on cash flow optimization, there was a clear need for a data-driven solution to standardize inventory management across all facilities.

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The Approach

Starting point‍

• Our starting point was a comprehensive process-mapping exercise conducted internally at the automotive manufacturer. 

• The client had previously committed to Snowflake as a cloud-based data platform and identified Power BI as its intended visualization tool.

Our key contributions to the project‍

Data consolidation 

We replicated supply chain data sourced from local plant operations into one global Snowflake data platform.

Business logic implementation

We translated the business rules from the process map into data transformation logic using dbt.

Data accessibility 

The integrated data in Snowflake was made accessible through Power BI, enabling efficient and scalable insights. 

What makes our approach unique?

• We apply our internal best practices in data governance to ensure scalability and long-term reliability. Central to our approach is rigorous access control, which safeguards data security and enforces role-based visibility.
• We leverage proprietary techniques to ensure cost-effective onboarding of new users on Snowflake. 
• We place a strong emphasis on data quality throughout the Extract, Load and Transform process, proactively preventing unreliable data from entering reporting layers.
• Clear, standardized data definitions are maintained through comprehensive data cataloging. This ensures all stakeholders—regardless of location—are aligned on terminology and meaning.
• We ensure that business logic is accurately programmed into data models and reflected correctly in dashboards—never the reverse. This avoids the common “garbage in, garbage out” pitfall, producing trustworthy outputs that underpin reliable analysis.
• Finally, built-in data quality checks validate the accuracy of standardized data and can trigger corrective actions when needed. This safeguards analysts from unknowingly working with outdated or incorrect information.

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The Results

We developed reusable data products that support continuous inventory prioritization and optimization, significantly enhancing cash management. These efforts enabled the automobile manufacturer to realize approximately €80 million in cash savings in 2024 alone, driven by inventory reduction and optimization initiatives.

To facilitate more informed decision-making, we introduced visualizations that provide clear insights into inventory levels and the underlying factors driving fluctuations. Local and central stakeholders now have access to standardized analytical models, tailored to their job role.

Moreover, this project fostered cross-functional collaboration, deepening the organization's understanding of the inventory’s business impact. This has led to increased operational efficiency and the standardization of key processes across teams.

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What Tropos can do for you

Are you seeking a trusted data partner to help you design and deliver scalable and reliable data products in today’s complex and fragmented landscape?

We specialize in delivering end-to-end data solutions that transform raw data into actionable insights—insights that can lead to significant cost savings and smarter decision-making.

Let’s talk about how we can support your business goals.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch!