Big data is not just getting bigger it’s increasing at a staggering pace as our world becomes more automated, digitized and connected.  But how do organizations analyze this enormous volume of data and drive more informed decisions faster? 

Arpad Hevizi, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, shares his thoughts on Big Data and how Celestica’s IT organization is leveraging analytics to drive smarter decisions from the shop floor to inventory demand management. 

Q: What are the opportunities that you have seen with data analytics over the past few years?
A:  The amount of data that companies collect each day is staggering and increases exponentially as our world becomes even more automated.  At Celestica, analytics provides information to make more informed decisions.  Let’s take inventory demand planning.  Creating an accurate demand plan is extremely difficult, because demand can fluctuate drastically.  However, if we look at historical inventory data we can simulate new ideas or alternative approaches, without putting the demand management process at risk.  This insight allows our supply chain management teams to make faster and much more informed decisions and more importantly, it takes the guesswork out of the equation. 

We are also leveraging analytics in Operations.  Our SpectrumPro solution that will combine our shop floor system, ODC, with our robust after-market services platform, Viper is designed to allow us to integrate additional data form testing manufacturing equipment. In addition to gathering manufacturing and testing data that drives transparency, the platform also supports Celestica's automation strategy.

There is a lot of discussion about Internet of Things (IoT) where companies are building machine-to-machine communication to enable advanced self-monitoring manufacturing processes.  We have already deployed some of these advanced capabilities as proof of concepts and we envision that SpectrumPro will be Celestica's platform to support both machine-to-machine integration, process automation and advanced analytics in operations.

Q: What are some of the challenges that surround data analytics?
A: A big challenge with large volumes of data is the complexity of the information and the accuracy of the data.  Our team has done and continues to do a significant amount of work to validate the data in our databases, and we work with the rest of the business to ensure that the information that goes into a system is correct and useful.  

Another challenge is the inability to quickly scale solutions based on need.  As more teams begin to leverage analytics as part of their decision-making process, there will be a growing need for analysis work, which requires time and expertise.  In many cases, you need to really explore the data, and go deep into the information.  In fact, this may require multiple iterations before a useful piece of insight is found.  While this might work for a small team, it may not be feasible for larger teams or multiple teams. 

That’s where self-service analytics may be the answer.  We are constantly looking for ways to drive efficiency throughout the business, empowering end-users to be in control of their information.  As a result, our Analytics team is now exploring a self-service analytics solution to provide teams with the ability to run their own analytics, allowing them to operate at the speed of the business.  Through this solution, end-users will be able to customize their interface with the information that they need, when they need it.

Q:  What are some of the benefits and advantages of self-service analytics?
A:  Self-service analytics is absolutely the future.  We are exploring a very powerful solution that puts insight and information at the end-user’s fingertips, and is readily available whenever they need it. No more waiting for the analytics team to provide them with the analysis, or for the IT team to make the necessary changes.  With self-service analytics, we can provide anyone who needs to analyze data with a tool that they can run themselves and that’s exciting.

Self-service analytics provides an unprecedented level of transparency that can only be achieved through the automation of data analysis. The analysis can be done iteratively, in very little time, making any updates to the data as it comes in, ensuring that the insights are always the most current.

And, that’s how we can drive outcomes faster for our customers.