Modernizing Manufacturing Analytics with Microsoft Fabric

Critical Issue

The client’s analytics and reporting environment was fragmented, underutilized, and lacked the capabilities needed to support modern business decision-making. Without a unified, scalable platform, reporting was inconsistent, data was siloed, and business teams lacked confidence in both the accuracy and timeliness of insights. The organization partnered with Concurrency to design and implement a modern analytics platform powered by Microsoft Fabric—a cloud-native solution that would unify data, streamline reporting, and empower business users to access actionable insights in real time.

Customer Profile

A leading industrial manufacturer seeking to modernize its analytics capabilities and improve business performance through advanced data technology solutions.

Key Problem

The existing analytics environment failed to deliver timely, actionable insights, lacked integration across business units, and offered no easy way for business teams to access or maintain reports. Internal coordination challenges and resource constraints further delayed progress, creating a need for both technical expertise and collaborative project management to achieve a successful deployment.

BUSINESS CHALLENGES

Before engaging with Concurrency, the organization faced several challenges:

• Siloed Data: Data was fragmented across multiple systems, making it difficult to generate unified reports.
• Limited Functionality: The legacy environment lacked advanced analytics, interactive dashboards, and integration with modern tools.
• Content Management Constraints: Business teams lacked the tools and training to update or create reports independently.
• Internal Coordination Challenges: Organizational complexity and resource limitations led to project delays and inconsistent adoption.

Outcomes

Enhanced Business Insights

A modern, interactive analytics platform improved visibility and decision-making across the organization.

Empowered Business Teams

Business users gained the confidence and capability to access and update analytics in real time, ensuring information remains current and relevant.

Strengthened Data Culture

The platform provided a standardized, centralized environment for analytics, fostering a data-driven culture and supporting ongoing business transformation.

our solution

The organization partnered with Concurrency to implement a comprehensive analytics platform using Microsoft Fabric, delivered in three strategic phases:

• Phase 1: Sales & Margin Analytics
  • Analyzed five years of sales data by customer, product line, and location.
  • Summarized intercompany transactions and tracked shipments by region.
  • Standardized profitability metrics and developed dashboards for sales and margin analysis using Power BI integrated with Fabric.
• Phase 2: Purchasing Analytics
  • Examined direct material purchasing data over five years.
  • Tracked price changes per piece and summarized costs by material type.
  • Compared actual costs to standard costs by SKU and location using semantic models built in Fabric.
• Phase 3: Inventory Analytics
  • Reported monthly inventory data for the past two years.
  • Provided net inventory summaries by type and location.
  • Implemented days-on-hand reporting for raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods.

Implementation Highlights:

• Selected Microsoft Fabric for its scalability, integration capabilities, and enterprise-grade analytics features.
• Adopted a medallion architecture (bronze, silver, gold layers) to ensure data quality, lineage, and governance.
• Ingested and standardized data from multiple sources into Fabric’s OneLake for unified reporting.
• Built interactive dashboards in Power BI, leveraging Fabric’s semantic models.
• Deployed Master Data Management to ensure consistency across systems.
• Implemented robust security, privacy, and access controls from the outset.

Lessons Learned & Next Steps

• Early alignment on business objectives and technical architecture with Concurrency accelerated deployment and adoption.
• Collaborative workshops and iterative feedback with internal stakeholders were critical for successful implementation and buy-in.
• Providing comprehensive training and documentation empowered business teams to maintain and extend the solution.
• Ongoing support and knowledge transfer from Concurrency ensured a smooth transition and rapid issue resolution.
• The organization continues to refine and expand the analytics platform, adding new data domains and capabilities as business needs evolve.

Conclusion

By partnering with Concurrency, the organization transformed its fragmented analytics environment into a unified, business-focused platform powered by Microsoft Fabric. Through thoughtful design, phased execution, and robust training, the company now benefits from timely, accurate insights and a scalable foundation for future growth. This transformation has empowered business users, enhanced decision-making, and established a strong data-driven culture across the enterprise.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is Microsoft Fabric, and why was it chosen for this analytics modernization project?

Microsoft Fabric is an end-to-end analytics platform that unifies data ingestion, engineering, storage, and visualization in a single cloud-native environment. It was selected for this project because it provides scalability, strong integration with Power BI, robust security, and the ability to centralize siloed data in OneLake for consistent, enterprise-grade reporting.

How did Concurrency help unify the client’s siloed data sources?

Concurrency implemented a medallion data architecture—bronze, silver, and gold layers—to clean, standardize, and govern data from multiple systems. Using Microsoft Fabric’s OneLake, all data was consolidated into a single environment, enabling unified reporting across sales, purchasing, and inventory.

What were the biggest challenges the organization faced before modernizing its analytics environment?

The client dealt with fragmented data, outdated reporting tools, limited self-service capabilities, and resource constraints that slowed internal progress. These challenges made it difficult for business teams to access accurate, timely insights for decision-making.

What business outcomes were achieved after implementing Microsoft Fabric?

The organization gained real-time visibility into sales, margin, purchasing, and inventory performance. Business users were empowered to update and explore analytics independently, and leadership benefited from standardized dashboards that improved strategic decision-making.

How does the new analytics platform support business users and non-technical teams?

With Power BI integrated directly into Microsoft Fabric, business teams now have user-friendly dashboards, intuitive tools for updating reports, and centralized access to consistent data. Training and documentation from Concurrency ensured long-term adoption and ongoing self-service success.

What types of analytics were included in the three project phases?

• Sales & Margin: Profitability metrics, customer trends, product performance, and intercompany transaction summaries.
• Purchasing: Five-year material cost trends, standard vs. actual cost comparison, and SKU-level insights.
• Inventory: Monthly inventory reporting, days-on-hand analysis, and inventory type/location breakdowns.

How does Microsoft Fabric improve reporting accuracy and governance?

Fabric’s medallion architecture ensures data goes through structured quality checks. Semantic models create consistency across reports, while Fabric’s security and role-based access controls ensure data integrity and compliance across the organization.

What is a medallion architecture, and how does it benefit analytics modernization?

A medallion architecture organizes data into layered stages—bronze (raw), silver (clean/standardized), and gold (analytics-ready). This structure improves data reliability, ensures lineage and governance, and accelerates the development of dashboards and advanced analytics.

How long does it typically take to implement a Microsoft Fabric analytics solution?

Implementation timelines vary by complexity, but phased approaches—like sales, purchasing, and inventory—help organizations show early value while scaling over time. In this project, early architectural alignment and collaboration accelerated delivery and adoption.

What ongoing support does Concurrency provide after deployment?

Concurrency delivers knowledge transfer, training, documentation, and post-launch support to ensure analytics teams can maintain and extend the platform. Continued collaboration helps organizations add new data domains and expand capabilities as business needs evolve.

Can this type of Microsoft Fabric solution scale to additional business units or new data sources?

Yes—Fabric is designed for enterprise scalability. Thanks to centralized OneLake storage and reusable semantic models, organizations can easily integrate new data sources, expand analytics to new departments, and build additional dashboards as they grow.