Client Stories
What data delivers in practice
Three examples of how organisations gained better control of their operations through Power BI — across e-commerce, hospitality and care.
Den Otter Solutions helps Dutch SMEs and international businesses turn operational data into actionable management information through Power BI. For an insight in what we do, see three solutions we implemented below for clients across e-commerce, hospitality and healthcare.
E-commerce — DTC Food Products
Inventory optimisation and automated purchase advice for a global honey brand
Challenge
Real Mad Honey — a DTC e-commerce business selling honey products worldwide — lacked visibility into inventory over time. Which products were selling slowly or not at all? How much working capital was tied up in slow-moving stock? And when should orders be placed, factoring in lead times and projected sales?
Solution
Den Otter Solutions built a Power BI dashboard combining inventory value and unit counts with sales data, product rotation and an automated purchase recommendation per product — calculated from weeks of stock on hand, supplier lead times and forecast sales. Rob den Otter designed the data model and purchase logic based on hands-on supply chain management experience. The dashboard is used daily to monitor stock levels and manage purchase orders.
Results
€150,000 in working capital freed up by identifying and reducing slow-moving inventory positions
Fewer out-of-stocks through timely purchase advice based on weeks of cover and supplier lead times per product
Fewer write-offs through early identification of products approaching their expiry date
Manual Excel-based inventory and purchasing analysis fully replaced by daily dashboard use
Hospitality — Restaurants & Food Courts
One dashboard for sales, staffing, quality and waste across a multi-site restaurant group
Challenge
A restaurant group operating its own venues, food court locations and delivery via platforms lacked an integrated view of business performance. Sales data, staffing levels and costs, customer reviews from multiple platforms, quality audits and food waste were all tracked separately — making it difficult for management to act quickly at site level.
Solution
Den Otter Solutions built a comprehensive Power BI report fed by direct connections to all data sources and Google Sheets as an integration layer where needed. The dashboard is fully filterable by location, date and product category, combining sales, staffing, customer reviews from all platforms, audit results and waste in a single view.
Results
Sales growth through faster intervention at underperforming locations based on daily data
Improved staffing levels with lower labour costs through data-driven scheduling optimisation
Reduced food waste through visibility on waste per location and product category
Better audit results through structured follow-up of quality action points directly from the dashboard
Healthcare — Day Care Services
Activity tracking, case file management and network monitoring for a day care organisation
Challenge
Management lacked visibility into how staff were spending their time: what proportion went to direct client-related activities versus indirect tasks? There was also no reliable overview of the status of client and personnel files, manuals and network contacts — meaning follow-up depended on individual staff members rather than a central system.
Solution
Den Otter Solutions developed custom Excel registration forms for staff, connected to a five-page Power BI dashboard in Power BI Service. The dashboard brings together activity logging, file and manual management, and network follow-up in one overview — filterable by staff member, period and location.
Results
Better insight into the ratio of client-facing versus non-client activities per staff member
Centralised case file management — follow-up no longer dependent on individual staff members
Faster and more structured follow-up of new network contacts and prospective clients
Management monitors workload and activities without relying on manual reporting from staff
Do any of these challenges sound familiar?
Book a free call — and we'll explore what data can do for your organisation.