In today’s data-driven world, companies of all sizes recognize the importance of accurate and consistent data management. Schneider Electric (SE), a global powerhouse with a rich history spanning over a century, understood the importance of transforming its business operations through data.
Schneider Electric’s mission is to empower everyone to make the most of available energy and resources by bridging progress with sustainability – an initiative known as “Life is On.” The company fulfills this mission by driving digital transformation, integrating world-leading processes and energy technologies to realize full efficiency and sustainability opportunities for its customers.
In order to accomplish this goal, SE recognized the necessity of replacing its home-grown solution and implementing a modern master data management (MDM) program that could scale and move at the speed of its fast-changing business.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Macksen Lima, VP of 3rd party Master Data Domain at Schneider Electric, at the Gartner Data & Analytics Summit in London about these challenges. Macksen, who is in the photo with me here, has over 20 years of experience at Schneider Electric, and his career has spanned IT operations and execution, M&A, Master Data, and more. Macksen guided the audience through Schneider’s data transformation efforts and how Reltio’s modern MDM solutions helped the company drive significant business outcomes.
This blog will explore Schneider’s challenges, its vision for data transformation, and how Reltio’s MDM platform fits its requirements and exceeds expectations as an adaptable and innovative solution.
Schneider’s Data Challenges
Schneider encountered several challenges that hindered its data transformation efforts. Fragmented data scattered across over 20 systems prevented collaboration and lacked a unified customer journey. The existing home-grown relational database and MDM solution fell short of the potential for innovation and required in-depth technical knowledge to maintain and update. The desire to complement cloud-based CRM and productivity tools with an adaptable, cloud-based, and real-time MDM solution was unmet by its current system.
With these challenges, Schneider sought a modern solution to transform its data into its most valuable asset. Schneider recognized the need for a modern, cloud-based MDM solution, and after a rigorous assessment, the team’s choice was Reltio. Some of the key features that aligned with Schneider’s requirements included:
- Unified and standardized customer data is shared in real-time across multiple systems.
- A modern, cloud-based, and graph platform capable of connecting diverse systems and sources such as Salesforce, SAP ERP, and Oracle ERP.
- Leveraging Reltio partner, Dun & Bradstreet to enrich organization data
Schneider’s Bold Vision for Data Transformation
Schneider Electric viewed customer data as a strategic asset enabling the company to increase top-line revenue and drive operational efficiency. The company needed to ensure that critical customer attributes and relationships were complete, consistent, and accurate so they could understand the customer journey and support key business functions.
Schneider embarked on a transformative journey to unlock the power of data within its organization. Its primary objectives included improving the customer experience and driving operational efficiencies by creating a single view of customers for all business units and for multiple downstream uses.
First and foremost, Schneider aimed to establish a centralized hub that would serve as a single source of truth for real-time data. By harnessing the power of this centralized hub, they could ensure that customer information was always up-to-date and readily accessible across the organization.
Realizing the importance of the customer journey to support key business functions and drive operational efficiencies, Schneider Electric sought to comprehensively understand its customers’ interactions and touchpoints throughout their journey. Analyzing this data could identify areas for improvement and streamline operations, resulting in enhanced efficiency and cost savings.
Reltio Helps Drive Tangible Business Outcomes
Implementing Reltio’s Master Data Management (MDM) solution has yielded numerous positive business outcomes for Schneider:
- Several millions of dollars in new potential sales opportunities uncovered
- Several hundred thousand dollars of shipping cost savings per year
- Improved data accuracy, consistency, and enrichment
- 360-degree view leading to better segmentation and classification of customers
- Significant reduction of manual data entry
- Increased efficiency for service and support teams
One of the most significant benefits is enabling Schneider to comprehensively understand its customers. This knowledge has empowered the company to engage in personalized interactions and execute targeted marketing campaigns, resulting in stronger customer relationships and increased customer loyalty.
Reltio’s integration with emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) has been instrumental in unlocking valuable insights for Schneider. By harnessing the power of AI and ML, Schneider has identified cross-selling opportunities and optimized its sales strategies, leading to improved revenue growth and expanded market share.
The sales platforming capabilities provided by Reltio have played a crucial role in streamlining sales operations for Schneider. With efficient processes in place, the company has experienced enhanced productivity and operational efficiency, driving overall revenue growth and strengthening its competitive position in the market.
In addition, Reltio’s MDM solution has significantly improved logistics operations for Schneider. The implementation has resulted in faster and more efficient logistics processes, leading to cost savings and enhanced customer satisfaction. Reltio’s centralized hub is a reliable and accurate data source for Schneider’s financial reporting. With trusted information readily available, the company has generated precise financial reports, improving transparency and facilitating informed strategic decision-making at all levels of the organization.
Field engineers at Schneider have also greatly benefited from Reltio’s MDM solution. The streamlined communication and easy access to relevant data have enabled field engineers to provide better customer service.
Moreover, Reltio’s MDM solution has positively impacted Schneider’s customer care center. The unified and consistent source of customer information provided by Reltio has enabled the customer care center to operate more efficiently and effectively. Resolving customer issues promptly and accurately has become easier, leading to improved customer support and higher levels of customer satisfaction.
From gaining a comprehensive understanding of customers and deploying emerging technologies to streamlining sales operations, improving logistics efficiency, enhancing financial reporting, enabling better field engineer service, and enhancing customer care center support, Reltio’s MDM solution has proven to be a valuable asset in driving Schneider’s success in today’s competitive market.
For more information about Schneider’s MDM journey, read our case study.
