Koble sammen datapunktene

«Analyse kommer fra å lytte», sier Karl Erickson, visepresident for IT hos ICS. «Ved å jobbe hånd i hånd med produsenter gjennom årene har vi lært hva som virkelig betyr noe for dem – spesifikt for legemiddelprogrammene deres. Våre kunder stoler på våre råd og ber ofte om vår hjelp til å kompilere tilpassede analyser for dem. Det er en naturlig progresjon i vår rolle som deres forretnings- og tredjeparts logistikkpartner.»

Det er den sjeldne forståelsen av både IT og virksomheten som posisjonerte ICS som en uvurderlig konsulent for sine produsentkunder. Det er ikke uvanlig at selskapets IT-eksperter følger forretningsutviklingsteamet på kundemøter for å diskutere produsentens unike behov og hvordan ICS Analytics kan skreddersys deretter. Og for hvert møte lærer teamet noe nytt, utvikler forståelsen av klienten og utvider mulighetene til ICS Analytics.

"Vi gir våre produksjonskunder muligheten til å bygge ICS Analytics slik de vil," sier Cory Isom, Business Intelligence Manager hos ICS. «For eksempel hadde vi kunder som ønsket å vite når produktene deres ble levert. Så vi utarbeidet en måte å få tilgang til UPS-data på og opprettet en Proof of Delivery (POD)-rapport som viste nøyaktig når produktet ankom og hvem som signerte for det basert på ordrenummeret. Uansett hvordan kundene våre trenger å se analysene sine, kommer vi til å få det til.»

It is important to note that it goes beyond tailoring analytics — it helps manufacturers uncover which data to integrate and why. For instance, by connecting chargeback data to 867 data, manufacturers can forecast chargeback costs, gain visibility into chargeback accruals, and track utilization by product and distributor. We also deliver critical analytics that allow manufacturers to identify their top customers, understand purchasing behaviors, and analyze trends by state and ZIP code. Additionally, we help clients integrate unique data points, such as invoice fees and discounts. For one client, we created a dashboard that provided a rolling inventory by week, enabling visibility into stock levels at each distributor. During this project, the team also developed functionality to analyze data by salesperson, offering insights into individual and territory-level performance.

Some of the most innovative features of our analytics have been inspired by client feedback. For example, one manufacturer requested custom alerts for key metrics and business rules to better manage customer behaviors. In one case, a manufacturer with a service-level agreement (SLA) limiting a customer’s monthly orders to 10,000 units wanted to be alerted if the limit was exceeded. The tool was programmed to notify the manufacturer and hold the order until next steps could be determined. This unique capability is possible because we serve as the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for its clients, enabling real-time analytics that optimize performance and support better business decisions.

“[the tools] are designed to be proactive rather than reactive,” says Erickson. “It’s not just about gaining visibility into inventory levels and sales trending, it’s about cross-referencing them to forecast restocking needs. We deliver actionable intelligence, so when a client has inventory about to expire, they can quickly decide if they should destroy it, put it in quarantine or push it out. Or, if a client’s sales have dropped over the past few months, they can very easily determine whether the decrease is product-specific or central to a particular area, related to sales efforts or community need.”

Connecting cause and effect is the essence of analytics, and we deliver this seamlessly to clients. The company’s approach goes beyond simply showing manufacturers what has happened; it provides insights into what will happen, why it will happen, and how to respond. This tailored approach ensures that analytics meet the unique needs of each manufacturer.

Erickson illustrates this point when he says, “Many in the industry tout ‘analytics packages.’ That’s not analytics, that is a reporting package. People might brag about how good it looks, but what about the content? If it hasn’t had that human touch, that understanding of the relationship between a manufacturer and its customers, the knowledge of their unique program, then it’s just extracted data wrapped in a colorful bar chart. That’s why [we] will never have one analytics solution for our clients.”

This commitment to collaboration ensures that our analytics capabilities continue to evolve. By sharing what has worked—and what hasn’t—with its clients, we are redefining what it means to be a trusted third-party logistics partner.