Case Study:
NEW BALANCE
Self-Sufficient Access and Analysis
of Key Metrics Across a Global Organization
“Implementation went very fast ... for the first time we had visibility into the data,
and could do any analysis needed ...”
Elaine Ritchie, New Balance, Director of IS
Quick Facts:
Organization: New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. Solution: Diver Platform
Industry: Footwear and Apparel Website: newbalance.com
Revenue: >$2B Company Description: New Balance markets
Employees: 4,000+ width-sized footwear and apparel for men, women,
and children.
Location: Boston, MA
Challenges: New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. faced the had visibility into the data and could do
Detailed reports required cumbersome problem of printing reports any analysis needed, make any report they
for analysis of a complex, from an ERP system that lacked ad hoc wanted, on their own,” says Ritchie. They
dynamic business capabilities. IS was confronted with an could click through the shipment model
Information requirements ongoing backlog of requests to produce and focus on specific styles or specific
are constantly changing reports in useful formats. What started out product categories that Foot Locker, for
Printed reports from limited as a fix for an inefficient reporting system example, ordered last year — information
ERP system did not provide quickly evolved into an enterprise-wide that was very cumbersome to obtain in
enough information BI solution. the past. When the pilot team of managers
Severe IS backup in “People were always needing reports for
became familiar with Diver, Ritchie
report requests went to other managers to learn more
specific accounts, products, divisions, sales
about their information needs and New
reps, etc. sorted in various ways and then
Balance’s solution for distributing the right
they would have to compare it with other
Solution: information to figure out what happened,”
information to the right people quickly
The CEO, CFO, sales began to take shape.
explains Elaine Ritchie, Director of IS. A
managers, all executives, and report request could take months to Sheela Shanbhag, a member of the IS group,
all sales reps self-sufficiently
complete and the information required designed 40 Diver models that are tailored
access and analyze key
metrics across the global often changed by the time a person received for and distributed to offices and factories
organization it. Today, managers in every department throughout the enterprise.
BI solution to deliver the throughout Massachusetts, Maine, and To build the models, she extracted tab-
right information to the Canada use Dimensional Insight’s flagship delimited files from several databases. To
right people product, Diver Platform™ (Diver), to navigate maintain the Models, she created batch
All systems roll up into Diver through data models to answer their own files for each to be updated daily, weekly,
questions and analyze particular areas or monthly. “Diver is an exceptionally
of interest. With the self-sufficient data easy-to-use tool and a great product for
access and flexibility of Diver, New Balance
Results: the end user.”
eliminated one quarter of its printed reports,
Decrease reporting costs and The CEO, CFO, sales managers, all executives,
all special one-time reports, and the entire
eliminate request backlog and all sales reps now use Diver to self-
backlog of new report requests.
Improve effectiveness and sufficiently access and analyze key metrics
speed of decision-making “Implementation went very fast,” recalls across the global organization. “People are
Improve visibility Ritchie. New Balance built its first two learning a lot about all of the information
of detail data data models in one night — one included contained within the company. And Diver
all open orders and the other included empowers all to be much more productive,
shipments that had occurred. A pilot team making business decisions quicker and
of department managers received access more effectively,” says Ritchie.
to the models, and “for the first time, they
www.dimins.com Case Study: New Balance 2
“Diver is an exceptionally easy-to-use tool and a great product for the end user.”
Sheela Shanbhag, a member of the IS group
The company uses Diver to monitor and manage performance Sub-category (men, women, and children)
in retail stores and the emerging ecommerce business by Type of Account (department stores vs. specialty stores)
analyzing and comparing key metrics, sales goals and budgets,
Territory
year-over-year growth, top 10 product sales, store traffic, and
Sales Rep
ecommerce sales.
State
All systems roll up into Diver:
Style
ERP systems
“It’s important for us to be able to look at all sales by style, and
Product lifecycle systems
by width, and to be able to analyze that on an account basis,”
Warehouse management systems
explains Holly Irvine, sales systems administrator. For example, if
Retail systems a customer places an order for everything in a D width, but its
With well over 1,200 users across New Balance’s worldwide history shows that it has been successful with a variety of widths,
organization, Diver is the most-used, single application in Irvine will challenge the customer on its order for two reasons:
the company. 1. She knows it will eventually come back and need the
other widths.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
2. New Balance has built its inventory to supply its customers
The customer service department uses Diver to make sure orders based on their previous year’s demand for sizes and widths.
will ship on time. By “diving” into models, the customer service The company uses Diver to analyze previous styles and
department is able to track orders that are approaching cancel predict what customers will need in normal, wide, and narrow
dates, check on discounts, and analyze shipments over time in widths for the new, updated styles. The sales department
order to plan shipments for the future. also uses Diver to focus on channels of distribution, which
enforces selling the breadth of the line into the majority of
SALES
the accounts, rather than selling a hot style.
The sales department typically uses Diver to look at sales figures
and year-to-date sales compared to the same time last year. MARKETING
Models for the sales department include: Steve Ettridge, director of marketing, uses Diver for sales forecasts
Open Orders and planning and to initiate new styles. “We look at an 18 to 44
month calendar by style forecast, and get a picture of a style’s
Net Sales Year to Date
business by looking at shipments that have already occurred,
Open Orders Plus Sales this Year
affirmed open orders, and key account contract orders. We
Sales and Returns This Year speculate the demand and put an order into the system and it’s
Sales and Returns Last Year required that the sales department put in an affirmed order to go
Sales and Returns This Year versus Last Year against the contract order. Because the contract window may only
be six months into the future, we also include a forecast,” says
Order Activity for One Month
Ettridge. He speculates the demand for a new style by analyzing
Users answer any question they have by cross-referencing open orders/contracts as well as benchmarking a new style
“Dimensions” in the models. against its predecessor.
Typical dimensions for a sales model include: Ettridge will start initiating a new style 12 months before the
Customer Number, Division (domestic, style is due to ship. “If I’m initiating the ‘609’ shoe, which is an
international, and Canada) updated version of the ‘608’ shoe, I’ll dive into the 608 to get a
Accounting Period (by month and week) better sense of what accounts were significant to that style, even
Product Category (running or walking) though the 608 is still in the open order and forecast stage. I look
at two things for the 608: key account contribution to the style,
and the breakdown of sizes and widths.” Key account contribution
www.dimins.com Case Study: New Balance 3
“I’m able to look at the different types of discounts, standard costs, and regular list prices,
so I have a better understanding of discounts and profitability by customer and product.”
John Withee, New Balance, VP and Corporate Controller
determines the focus for the new shoe (based on the success of being shipped, returned, canceled, and revised, which is why it is
the 608) and key accounts to target for the 609 (accounts that important to analyze dollars and units separately. He is able to see
would have been successful had they purchased the 608). The credits that were given to customers and why credits were given
breakdown of sizes and widths allows Ettridge to increase his (i.e., a defective product).
turnover by reducing or eliminating widths for sizes that did not Withee also explains that Diver reduces the need to directly access
perform well. the ERP system. If there is an incorrect price on the ERP system,
The marketing department also analyzes open orders and Withee is able to find the mistake using Diver. He uses Diver to
shipments for the calendar year to find deficits. “I’ll look at Foot get down to the transactional level and, more often, identifies
Locker’s open orders for the 608 running shoe, broken down by discount problems before they are shipped. He obtains a list of
month for the present year, and compare it with last year’s style, the incorrectly priced items and their order numbers which makes
the 607 running shoe, also broken down by month for last year. it easy to follow up and remedy the problem within the ERP
If Foot Locker purchased a 100,000 pairs of the 607 and it has system. When asked about a return on investment, Withee replied,
only purchased 60,000 of the 608 so far, I know that, given our “We have not specifically quantified to date, but it is clearly there.
seasonality, we should be 80% booked on that style. I’ll streamline Some of the return can be measured by recovering incorrect
it from there and say I have a deficit and go figure out why,” billings promptly, while others are a result of holding down
explains Ettridge. expenses. These expenses include the software costs of seats on
the ERP system as well as people in finance and within operations.
FINANCE During a time of growth, the finance department is able to go a
The finance department forecasts by month, so it looks at open lot further without adding resources.
orders by month. Shanbhag has tailored the finance models to Diver permeates all aspects of financial operations including:
go down to the invoice and transaction levels for the current and
Inventory Analysis
previous month. “We have a bottoms-up independent assessment
of the integrity of what the sales group comes up with,” says John Profit and Loss Forecasts
Withee, vice president and corporate controller. Withee uses Business Segmentation and Analysis
Diver to analyze discounts, predict sales for the next few months, Accounts Receivable Exposure
and track the integrity of open orders. “I’m able to look at the Purchase Price Analysis and Control
different types of discounts, standard costs, and regular list prices,
Much further returns are expected throughout the organization as
so I have a better understanding of discounts and profitability by
business re-engineering efforts expand.”
customer and product.” Withee’s reports include sales dollars and
units with different levels of discounts for New Balance’s 40,000
items and 5,000 customers. He explains that orders are constantly
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