Contact Information: Press Contacts: Kathleen Moran Information Builders (917) 339-6313 Stephanie Fallon Emerge PR (617) 729-3176
Information Builders Customers Propel Green Initiatives With Business Intelligence
Leading Organizations Reduce Fuel and Paper Use While Cutting Costs
| Source: Information Builders
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - May 20, 2009) - Information Builders, an independent leader in
business intelligence (BI)
solutions, today announced that leading organizations worldwide are
leveraging WebFOCUS BI applications for better access to information to
support environmental initiatives, including reducing paper and fuel
consumption across their organizations. Many corporate environmental
initiatives have the dual benefit of fostering environmental responsibility
while reducing costs. Information Builders customers Emory University,
Hillman Group, van Wijk Logistics, and Pershing, LLC have achieved both
through the innovative use of WebFOCUS.
"The Green movement has been embraced by corporate America and is driving
innovative approaches to alternative power solutions, energy-efficient
buildings, and paper reduction programs," said Gerald Cohen, CEO and
founder of Information Builders. "The accessibility and portability of our
BI applications is helping drive green initiatives as well as cost
reduction across a variety of industries and in diverse applications."
Emory University Saves Thousands of Sheets of Paper a Year Through
Web-based Reporting
Founded in 1836, Emory University has 11,300 students and 2,500 faculty
members from the United States and more than 100 other countries. Emory
tapped Information Builders to help improve access to financial information
for departmental users responsible for making budgets and tracking
expenses. Using WebFOCUS BI software, Emory created an end-user reporting environment that allows financial professionals
throughout the university to access current information in a usable format.
WebFOCUS extends data access capabilities for hundreds of authorized users
to greatly reduce paper reports, eliminate calls to the help desk, and free
IT staff to focus on strategic projects.
As an institution of higher learning, Emory has fostered campus-wise
initiatives to reduce, reuse, and recycle. WebFOCUS played a pivotal role
in reducing paper consumption by striking the right balance between
innovation and ease-of-use. Employees can quickly get the information they
need to make accurate decisions and can do so without creating lengthy
paper reports.
Hillman Group Blends BI and GIS to Reduce Fuel Consumption/Emissions
The Hillman Group in Cincinnati, which distributes hardware, signs, keys,
and other products, has successfully leveraged BI and geographic
information systems (GIS) to optimize its field service and sales forces.
By integrating geographic information with business data, Hillman managers
determine the most efficient routes to reduce both costs and fuel
consumption. With 10 distribution centers in the United States, Hillman
ships products to retailers like Lowe's and Home Depot. Using BI and GIS to
optimize shipments, the company has dramatically reduced fuel consumption
and shipping expenses.
"In a transportation intensive business we are sensitive to both the cost
and environmental impact of our operations," said Jim Honerkamp, CIO,
Hillman Group. "Amid this era of corporate social responsibility and
fluctuating fuel costs, Hillman has been committed to improving efficiency.
By combining the business data we have through WebFOCUS with mapping
information, we were able to quickly reorder routes to reduce mileage to
achieve our goals."
Pershing Delivers Paperless BI to More Than 75,000 Investment Professionals
Pershing provides financial business solutions to more than 1,150
institutional and retail financial organizations and independent registered
investment advisors who collectively represent more than five million
active investors. The organization has been committed to promoting next
generation document management and reporting solutions to help
broker-dealers reduce paper, improve client satisfaction, enhance
operational efficiencies, and uncover cost savings.
Pershing's customers rely on its BI environment, built using Information
Builders' WebFOCUS software, to deliver aggregate views of account
balances, financial holdings, and trades from within their familiar broker
workstation application. Previously these investment professionals could
only access customer information via hard copy reports or standard files
containing all their data, consuming a sizable amount of paper. By
enhancing its BI capabilities with ad hoc reporting, Pershing has been able
to provide targeted information on demand and online. Brokers can easily
extract information that interests them and advanced users can access
parameterized reports that qualify results based on variables such as
geography, product or timeframe. This has reduced the need for and routine
use of paper-based reports across its user base of more than 75,000.
van Wijk Logistics Boosts Efficiency, Reduces Pollution in Cargo Transport
Based in Giessen, the Netherlands, van Wijk Logistics provides transport,
storage, and other logistic services across Europe. Since September 2007,
van Wijk has been using Information Builders WebFOCUS BI to measure
profitability per car, per department, and even per day -- running reports
in Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF, in just one click. The impact of Web-based
reporting was instantly clear. The majority of van Wijk's business is done
by 'consolidation of cargo' (transporting different deliveries to the same
destination in one truck), so it had been nearly impossible to track
efficiency or profitability by car or department. With WebFOCUS, the
company has been able to dramatically improve efficiency by running reports
to identify the root cause of delays or mistakes. The efficiencies realized
in its routes and deliveries have also led to a decrease in the level of
pollutants it introduces into the environment.
"Fewer trucks are needed to transport goods, fewer mistakes are made and we
have virtually eliminated unnecessary trips all through WebFOCUS
reporting," said Kees op 't Hof, ICT Manager, van Wijk Logistics. "In
addition, our planners are able to identify traffic bottlenecks more
quickly and are able to adjust truck routes to avoid roads that invariably
bring about delays. This decreases the time the trucks spend on the road
and has reduced our fuel consumption and emissions drastically."
About Information Builders
Information Builders' award-winning combination of business intelligence
and enterprise integration software has been providing innovative solutions
to more than 12,000 customers for the past 30 years. WebFOCUS is the
world's most widely utilized business intelligence platform. It provides
the security, scalability, and flexibility needed at every level of global
extended enterprises. Its simplicity helps create executive, analytical,
and operational applications that reach dozens to millions of users.
Information Builders' iWay Software suite provides state of the art,
multi-purpose, pre-built integration components that address all SOA, application, data, and information management
requirements. Its integration adapters have been adopted by the leading
software platform providers. Together, these products give Information
Builders' customers the ability to grow and innovate according to their
needs.
Information Builders' customers include most of the Fortune 100 and U.S.
federal government agencies. Headquartered in New York City with 90 offices
worldwide, the company employs 1,450 people and has more than 350 business
partners. More information is available at
http://www.informationbuilders.com.