Data Analytics Applied to Industry and Retail

A global leader outgrowing spreadsheets

Founded in 1979, Portobello Group is one of the leading global references in the ceramic tile sector. The company:

• Exports to more than 65 countries
• Owns the largest manufacturing plant in the segment in Latin America
• Operates a retail network with over 150 stores

With a robust and highly integrated operation, the company began dealing daily with massive volumes of data distributed across different business areas. Spreadsheet-based processes could no longer keep up with the operation's complexity, making it difficult to consolidate information, track indicators, and generate strategic insights.

More than just implementing technology, the challenge was to structure a data-driven culture capable of connecting departments, accelerating analysis, and supporting decisions with greater intelligence and reliability.

A partnership that grew from retail to the whole group

Over more than ten years and 100+ projects, the partnership brought analytical intelligence to one area after another.

1. 1
   Retail analytics at Portobello ShopThe partnership began with Portobello Shop, the company's retail arm: a Data Analytics solution for performance analysis and commercial management, with advanced data visualization, integration of multiple data sources, and analysis sharing among teams to monitor operations and franchise performance.
2. 2
   Franchise BI, pricing BI, and a relationship programA Pentaho-based BI in which each franchise store tracks its own marketing, sales, and logistics KPIs; a pricing BI with the pricing indicators; and a relationship program platform in which architects earn points for selling Portobello products, redeemable for trips or electronics.
3. 3
   Expansion across business areasFollowing the results, new solutions began serving planning, operations, sales, marketing, controlling, and finance, combining specialized consulting, continuous support, and dedicated professionals.
4. 4
   Data Engineering and Data ScienceThe scope expanded to Data Engineering and Data Science initiatives, further strengthening the company's analytical capabilities.
5. 5
   Market data and P&L review automationFor Pointer, market data collected with Involves, previously handled in Excel, became dashboards. For the group's P&L dashboards, seen by the CEO and the board, a JavaScript extension approves and triggers Qlik Sense updates, with NPrinting notifications, on top of an ETL with more than 6,000 lines of code.

Data at the center of strategic management

• With the relationship program, the share of tiles sold through architects rose from 65% to about 75%
• The franchise BI is credited with about 3% growth in 2016, a bad year for Brazil, by helping franchisees understand their business and act on problems
• Faster market dashboards for Pointer, with new market insights
• Solutions supporting Portobello Group, Portobello Shop, Pointer, and Portobello America
• Data-Driven Organization certification, reinforcing the analytical maturity built throughout the partnership
• Data Analytics as a competitive differentiator to sustain growth, operational efficiency, and continuous innovation across the company