Labatt Brews Up A Data Warehouse

Executives at Labatt are now using KPI (key performance indicator) dashboards, which have replaced a scorecard system the company used before the deployment. According to Starkey, the dashboards offer finance, sales and marketing and other divisions their own version of P&L. This, he says, allows executives to address specifically those issues that affect their division as the structure of the company changes, and to deal accordingly as the changes occur.

For Labatt it's important to create detailed logistics and production plans, and then bring them together with actuals, says Starkey. The consumer packaged goods industry changes frequently, which means that plans created one month won't necessarily be applicable the next. New activity creates new structure, so a tool that allows users to pull information from the past for variance reporting is essential. It's one way Labatt is able to adjust its targets and dimensions, says Starkey.

Since 1995 Labatt has been in partnership with InBev, which last year became the world's largest brewing company by volume. Labatt offers 60 separate brands and employs 3,800 workers across Canada.