Almo engaged Blue Margin (BMI) to create a data-driven operation and address several critical organizational challenges. Scott Landsberg, Director of FP&A, along with the executive team wanted to “embrace and invest in change” that would “ignite a culture of growth” and encourage individual accountability.
Legacy System Limitations The company needed to extract greater clarity from their legacy AS400 system, which made ad hoc reporting time-consuming and business insights difficult to digest.
Data Source Fragmentation Almo required integration of varied data sources for easy insight into division and companywide performance against goals and prior year performance.
Process Silos The product management division operated in isolation from other departments, preventing cross-functional visibility and collaboration.
Lack of Goal Tracking The company wanted to adopt scorecards to set and track stretch goals to drive progress, but lacked the infrastructure to implement them effectively.
Limited Individual Accountability Without visibility into performance metrics, individual contributors had difficulty understanding their impact on company goals.
While disconnected data sources made ad hoc reporting time-consuming and business insights difficult to digest, BMI’s dashboards brought clarity by integrating operational data across the company.
Inventory Management Enhancement Within inventory, Almo is now able to drill down by SKU, brand, or part, and analyze purchase orders by customer. Landsberg says this drill down capability “has been life-changing for Almo.”
Cross-Functional Visibility Where the product management division was once siloed, it now has shared visibility into a single, cross-functional reporting platform, breaking down departmental barriers.
Scorecard Implementation BMI implemented automated scorecards that enable the company to set and track stretch goals, replacing manual CSV exports with real-time performance tracking.
Individual Performance Dashboards In addition to overall business performance clarity, dashboards provide individual contributors visibility into their area’s performance against goals, driving a sense of ownership and role accountability.
Enterprise-Wide Adoption Almo’s Power BI dashboards have been adopted across finance, accounting, product management, operations, and sales, creating a unified data-driven culture.
As Landsberg puts it, “The old way is not always the best way.” The company has evolved from CSV exports to automated scorecards and a stronger sense of team across the company. The transformation delivered measurable results across multiple dimensions:
Significant Profitability Gains The sales report alone “has increased profitability by 7-10%” by surfacing details in recovery of promotional debits from manufacturers.
Improved Inventory Management Enhanced drill-down capabilities and customer data visibility have transformed how Almo manages its extensive inventory across 2.5 million square feet of warehousing.
Cultural Transformation The company has successfully evolved to a data-driven culture with individual accountability, moving away from manual processes to automated, real-time insights.
Strengthened Partner Relationships Not only has Almo experienced operational and cultural benefits, their partnerships have also benefitted as their reporting suite demonstrates to those partners that they’re “at the forefront of innovation.”
Cross-Departmental Collaboration Breaking down silos between product management and other divisions has created a more cohesive, team-oriented organization.
By partnering with Blue Margin, Almo Corporation transformed from a traditional distributor relying on legacy systems to a data-driven innovator leading their industry. The success of this project demonstrates:
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