Result variance analysis made easy

Industry: building supplies and materials
Company size: 10,000 employees
Requirements: Company-wide online reporting including result variance analysis
Users: approx. 200 users
Project category: antares analyzer with customised solution; result variance analysis "price-mix analysis

Saint-Gobain Weber is a leading manufacturer of high-quality building materials for facades/walls, thermal insulation/WDVS, flooring systems, tiling systems and building protection systems and is part of the French SAINT-GOBAIN group. After the acquisition of the plaster specialists Wülfrather, Montenovo and Terranova, Weber entered the German market in 1999. With the acquisition of the maxit Group in 2008, Weber has developed into one of the leading suppliers nationwide. As a subsidiary, we belong to Saint-Gobain Weber, an internationally active company in the building materials industry, which is currently present in 52 countries in Europe as well as in South America, Africa and Asia. Saint-Gobain Weber, based in Servon near Paris, is the international market leader in the field of facade plasters, tile adhesives and building chemical products. With approximately 10,000 employees, the company achieves an annual turnover of more than € 2.3 billion.

For several years, the Saint-Gobain Group has pursued a strategy of growth. The company's goal is to reduce its dependence on cyclical markets and the influence of economic fluctuations. To achieve this, the management and all other company departments need flexible software for quantitative analyses of percentage price increases. It is also investigated which influencing factors are responsible for the deviations. The focus is on the question of whether the deviations are within the company's sphere of influence and can be quickly corrected with changes in the product portfolio.

antares analyzer, which has been in use at Saint-Gobain Weber for years, formed the ideal basis for a flexible and customised result variance analysis. In cooperation with the company, a universally applicable solution was created, which is available to the different company divisions (sales, purchasing, production, cost accounting, warehouse...). The extension was implemented with the support of antares IT specialists within a few days with a smooth data transfer from the existing ERP system.

With the result deviation analysis of antares, the approximately 200 users can display and compare all key figures for the different value types and for different time periods. Control databases with characteristics, which are maintained by the controlling department, were also integrated. At the same time, the controlling staff have been instructed to the extent that they can make changes to key figures and structures themselves. Person/group-based authorisations ensure that each user only sees what he or she needs to see or is allowed to see. All analyses can be exported for further processing (e.g. Excel, Word). The result deviation analysis has been integrated into the standard product from version 3.2. Thus, all users of antares analyzer benefit from this innovative customer idea. The introduction of a new way of working is often met with reluctance. Therefore, the training of the employees was all the more important - with support from antares.

The extension of the standard to include the results variance analysis drastically reduces the time required for the future evaluation process, so that competitive advantages can be recognised and used more quickly. The manual creation of individual evaluations is no longer necessary, flexible analyses can be called up at any time at the push of a button. Management has the same application for all subject areas. Ad-hoc reports can be created by the management or the respective person in charge, if required. The detailed measurability of success and effectiveness and the transparency of the complex processes could be noticeably increased. The management can react to market changes at short notice by using the result deviation analysis.