Qlik > Case Studies > Using Business Discovery to Improve Business Performance

Using Business Discovery to Improve Business Performance

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

Europe

Country

United Kingdom

Product

QlikView Business Discovery

Tech Stack

Business Intelligence Tools

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Productivity Improvements
Customer Satisfaction

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics

Applicable Industries

Education

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Use Cases

Process Control & Optimization
Predictive Quality Analytics

Services

Data Science Services

About The Customer

kidsunlimited is the fifth largest childcare provider in the UK, offering high standards of care and education for pre-school children in over sixty nurseries. Established in 1983, the company operates children’s nurseries through well-located and maintained nurseries, and also offers childcare voucher services to employers. Headquartered in Wilmslow, Cheshire, kidsunlimited provides over 5,600 childcare places and operates two types of nurseries: both onsite and offsite workplace nurseries for blue-chip customers and independent nurseries open to the local community. The company is growing fast, consistently opening new sites across the UK.

The Challenge

kidsunlimited, a UK-based childcare provider, was facing challenges in managing its rapidly expanding network of over sixty nurseries. The company was struggling with its legacy financial and management reporting systems, which were unable to correlate information across different data sources. This led to the creation of multiple, individual reports and manual collation, a time-consuming process that often resulted in a lack of visibility at a local level. The company was in need of a solution that could improve communications and reporting, enabling it to have a centralised view of its operations across all its dispersed sites.

The Solution

kidsunlimited implemented the QlikView Business Discovery platform, introduced by QlikTech partner, Trustmarque. The platform was chosen for its ability to plug into and extract existing data from multiple data sources without having to change systems. The implementation was staged, with the initial deployment focusing on connecting the nurseries. It was later rolled out to the company’s headquarters and the deployment took less than three months. kidsunlimited also received training from Trustmarque and Differentia, which involved sitting down with the end-users and showing them how to use the system, as well as working with the company to understand what sort of reports would help the business.

Operational Impact

The QlikView Business Discovery platform helped kidsunlimited achieve a better understanding of its operations.
The platform enabled the company to communicate key information with nurseries such as financial results, contribution against budget, food costs, number of children, etc.
The platform also helped in forecasting, allowing the company to see immediately if they could provide the sessions required by parents.
The platform reduced telephone traffic and helped to provide a more professional service.
The platform also helped the company track trends in demand to help organise staff holidays.

Quantitative Benefit

Significant efficiencies in reporting and analysis across the organisation – at least 2 weeks of manpower per month saved on reporting alone.
Near real-time access to key sales and nursery performance data.
Monitored results across all business functions recognised within 3 months of deployment.