When COVID hit in 2020, quick decisions needed to be made to reduce the financial impact for the team at Motorcycles R Us. Power BI, integrated with Autoline DMS, gave the team the instant insights needed to make quick decisions.
The Power BI dashboard enabled us to get analysis of sales information by brand and department, plus view overheads and net profits at a glance.
Craig Woods
Need for speedy data
As a large dealership, Motorcycles R Us needed detailed financial reporting to manage their performance. When Autoline was implemented into the site in 2008, the team now had everything they needed to run their dealership with ease, including financial reporting.
When the COVID pandemic hit quick, informed decisions were needed.
“While we have access to plenty of data from Autoline we felt we needed a better way to dissect that data and display it in a simpler cleaner way. Our aim is to provide our team with access to their department performance from the dashboard without having to print reports.” – Craig Woods, Motorcycles R Us.
Getting the right solution
After searching for solutions through various external solutions, Motorcycles R Us asked Systime for help. Behind the scenes, Systime, the Australasian distributor of Autoline, was already developing a reporting dashboard based on an integration between Autoline and Microsoft’s data visualisation software Power BI. This would serve as a template for Systime customers to customise and build upon, which Motorcycles R Us did.
The implementation of the dashboard took just under a week with the Systime team installing the reports, mapping the files, configuring the dashboard and providing training. Craig spent time on the Power BI website watching training videos and familiarising himself with the product so that he was able to fine tune the template to his specific requirements, with the help of Systime.
The results
“One pie graph can tell you what 3 worksheets can. Before we were using excel and I had the “cars report” from Autoline. I would convert that into a daily report and we used that for our daily budget. It was only columns and pages of numbers though. Power BI is definitely better to get a snapshot.
Craig Woods, Motorcycles R Us.
We’ve gone from a report where you had about 13 worksheets to read to get the information you want and with Power BI we can look at one page and get he same information. If we see the information quicker, we can make a decision quicker.“
The template allowed Motorcycle R Us to get access to a Power BI dashboard solution without the time and cost investment of a wholly customised and self-developed solution. The Motorcycle R Us team was then able to jump straight in and after a short period were making their own adjustments to suit their specific requirements to get an overview of their dealerships financial position.
“The Power BI dashboard enabled us to get analysis of sales information by brand and department, plus view overheads and net profits at a glance. During COVID we needed to be making quick decisions based on accurate data and having the information easily accessible in a dashboard allowed us to do that”
