What data delivers in practice
Four examples of how organisations gained better control of their operations through Power BI and AI automation — across e-commerce, M&A, hospitality and care.
Den Otter Solutions helps Dutch SMEs and international businesses turn operational data into actionable management information through Power BI dashboards, and takes routine work off their hands through AI automation. For an insight in what we do, see four solutions we implemented below for clients across e-commerce, M&A, hospitality and healthcare.
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.
Automatic project briefings through Dynamics CRM for a German M&A firm
Challenge
A German firm active in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) prepared a briefing for every new project, as the starting point for the team taking the deal forward. That work was done manually, and quality varied sharply from one person to the next — one colleague delivered a thorough report, another a half-page summary. There was no consistency, and it structurally ate into time that should have gone to the deals themselves.
Solution
Den Otter Solutions built an automated workflow in n8n, connected to Microsoft Dynamics CRM. As soon as a new project is created in Dynamics, the workflow automatically receives a signal. The report is generated and written straight back into the project documentation in the CRM — right where the team already works, with no separate system or extra step.
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.
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.
Do any of these challenges sound familiar?
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