HELSINKI, Finland, April 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Helsingin
Bussiliikenne Oy (Helsinki Bus Transportation Co.), in Finland, has selected Microsoft Power BI for
Office 365 to analyze operational data to improve business
decision-making, fuel economy and customer satisfaction. Using a
data warehouse solution developed with CGI (formerly Logica) and
using Microsoft software, including Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft
SharePoint, Microsoft Office and Power Map, Helsingin Bussiliikenne
Oy is able to track traffic data, driver performance and gas usage.
Within the first two years of implementation, the company has been
able to recoup its investment because of the entire solution,
seeing as much as 5 percent savings in fuel costs due to more
careful driving and improved maintenance. This is no small matter
for a business that uses approximately 12 million liters (or
approximately 3 million gallons) of gasoline per year, in a country
where gas can cost up to three times as much as it does in
the United States. There has also
been a 7 percent increase in customer satisfaction since
deployment.
In May 2013, the company added
Power Map to the solution, providing a visualization of operational
performance by a single driver or across the system. Mapping the
data allows Helsingin Bussiliikenne Oy to see which routes
experience the most delays and breakdowns and to associate data on
individual driver performance with specific traffic incidents or
customer feedback. Supervisors can bring map data into
conversations with drivers, making it easier to review performance
and outline steps for improvement. Power Map visualizations also
enable executives to more quickly understand the factors that
contribute to cost or performance issues and make more informed
long-term decisions.
"There are fleet tracking systems already in the marketplace,
but they are only solving for the issue of tracking per vehicle,"
said Michael Andersson, technical
director at Helsingin Bussiliikenne Oy. "Our data warehouse
solution can combine the data across all buses and lines, which
gives us snapshots of data that are easy to understand and helpful
in solving business problems."
Helsingin Bussiliikenne Oy competes for transportation routes
through a public tender process with the city. Once a seven-year
contract is awarded, the company is not permitted to raise rates
for its duration, meaning that any new revenue goals or unexpected
expenditures must be offset with cost savings. To help streamline
cost analysis, Helsingin Bussiliikenne Oy established a data
warehouse system to track financial and operational data; at the
same time, the company installed sensors on its fleet of buses to
capture real-time performance data such as geographic location,
braking or accelerating, and fuel consumption. Working with CGI,
Helsingin Bussiliikenne Oy used Microsoft software to bring
together the massive data being collected. The organization used
analytics and visual tools to enable a nuanced understanding of
fleet operations across the city and over time.
"For upper management, it is revealing to visualize the findings
in map format," Andersson said. "The analyst can concentrate on
describing what's behind the figures."
Helsingin Bussiliikenne Oy has seen significant benefits from
the solution, including the above-mentioned savings of as much as 5
percent in fuel costs, and customer satisfaction, measured through
surveys and interviews, has increased by 7 percent. The company
expects to be able to use the data to analyze and establish the
specific details of traffic incidents — for example, whether a bus
was in motion or whether the driver was braking at the time of a
collision.
More information about how organizations are turning to
Microsoft technology is available on the Microsoft Customer
Spotlight newsroom.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide
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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.