Leading Book Wholesaler Boosts Internal Efficiency, Streamlines Supply Chain With WebFOCUS

NEW YORK, NY (March 19, 2009) –

By accessing current business information and sharing it with suppliers, Levy Home Entertainment is improving operational efficiency, both internally and in its dealings with suppliers. The premier distributor of paperback and hardcover books used Information Builders’ WebFOCUS BI platform to build a self-service reporting environment that has increased transparency, efficiency, and cost-savings throughout its national organization – and beyond.

By using WebFOCUS to directly access data in IBM AS/400-based business applications, Levy was able to avoid the expense of developing and managing an enterprise data warehouse. With intuitive dashboards and easy-to-use reports at their fingertips, managers are cutting supply-chain costs, tightening up inefficiencies and continuing to provide enhanced services to national retailers like Target, Wal-Mart, and Toys ‘R Us.

“We wanted to get to the information-production stage very quickly,” said Marty Wehrle, senior vice president and chief information officer for Levy. “Information Builders enabled us to access the data and create meaningful reports almost immediately. They showed us how we could directly access the data in our production systems and create intermediate data stores for reporting.”

Levy retained Information Builders Professional Services to help them complete the enterprise-wide business intelligence project. “I was pleased with the progress we made, especially within the first 90 to 120 days,” said Steve Carlson, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Levy. “Our time to market was greatly advanced by choosing this solution and dedicating the appropriate internal and external resources.”

The new BI environment is currently delivering information throughout Levy’s organization. For example, WebFOCUS sales reports organize information from more than 10,000 retail locations every day to provide insight into which titles are selling. Warehouse managers use WebFOCUS to analyze the performance of Levy’s distribution centers – improving the efficiency of picking and packing operations to ensure inventory reaches retailers expeditiously. Levy also created a Publisher Portal that gives more than 300 partners visibility into Levy’s sales and inventory data. The portal provides instant information about which titles are selling, along with the ability to track purchase orders and gauge inventory shortfalls.

“In a tough economic environment where every dollar counts, being able to analyze accurate information and make quick decisions is crucial to corporate growth, profitability, and sometimes even survival,” said Gerald Cohen, CEO and founder of Information Builders. “From competitive advantages with partners to enhanced visibility into sales data and increased awareness of warehouse efficiency, Levy is experiencing an information revolution throughout its organization.”
About Levy

Levy Home Entertainment is the nation’s premier distributor of paperback and hardcover books to America’s finest retailers. With over $600 million in annual sales, Levy provides books and services to Target, Meijer, BJ’s Warehouse Clubs, Wal-Mart, Toys ‘R Us, and other national retailers.
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.

Source: Information Builders