BI vs. OI: Why industry should focus on increasing efficiency through real-time data

Business intelligence as the key to understanding our data-driven world

“Life is a jigsaw puzzle. Only when we have put all the pieces in the right place can we understand it.” This quote from Gerhard Strobel applies to today's industrial environment too. Our big data world consists of many individual puzzle pieces which, put together correctly, deliver valuable insights and enable well-founded decisions.

That is exactly where business intelligence comes in. Business intelligence (BI) is the systematic analysis of a company through data collection and data analysis. BI tools have been used in companies since the 1990s to improve data analysis and decision-making. With powerful analytics solutions, companies can collect data from a wide range of sources, process it and put it to profitable use.

What business intelligence means for Industry 4.0

In the context of Industry 4.0, data-driven value creation and cloud technologies, business intelligence keeps gaining importance. Companies increasingly rely on BI tools to optimise processes and carry out deeper analyses. These solutions enable structured data analysis and visualise the resulting information in dashboards, so that data-driven decisions can be made in real time.

Thanks to modern analytics technologies, companies using BI software can evaluate not only historical data but also real-time data. With BI tools such as Microsoft Power BI, Tableau or SAP Business Technology Platform, dashboards can be built that present complex data sets transparently. These tools let companies spot trends and patterns early and take well-founded, data-based decisions.

Which BI tool makes sense for my purposes?

When choosing a BI tool, companies should ask which data sources they want to use and how complex their analyses need to be. Modern BI systems offer a wide range of functions for data analysis, from automated reports through to AI-supported forecasts. A well-thought-out BI strategy helps to gather relevant information in a structured way and make it available for decision-making processes.

Real-time data or long-term analysis?

As big data and Industry 4.0 have developed, the methods of data analysis have changed with them. Real-time data lets companies react immediately to current developments and optimise their processes as they run. Long-term analysis, by contrast, gives deeper insight into long-term trends and supports strategic decisions.

Operational intelligence (OI) goes a step further and combines business intelligence with real-time data analysis. Using BI systems such as Qlik or Tableau, companies can assess running processes immediately and make data-based improvements. In production and logistics, BI tools support the control of manufacturing processes through real-time monitoring and process analysis.

Operational intelligence makes the difference in day-to-day business

By using business intelligence and operational intelligence in a targeted way, companies can increase their efficiency and take data-based decisions. While classic BI analyses are often retrospective, operational intelligence enables an immediate response to real-time data. That is particularly valuable for companies looking to improve their production processes and supply chains continuously.

Here are some practical examples of operational intelligence in use:

• Target/actual comparison of individual production steps in real time — Robert Bosch GmbH
• Real-time insight into manufacturing processes — ZARGES GmbH
• Process transparency in production and logistics — Helmut Fischer GmbH

Both business intelligence and operational intelligence have a firm place in modern companies. While BI tools help to evaluate historical data and take well-founded decisions, operational intelligence offers a decisive advantage: the ability to react directly to real-time data and continuously optimise processes. By combining business intelligence with real-time analysis, companies can stay competitive in the long term and shape their digital transformation successfully.