Back to Case Studies

Turning Disconnected Excel Reports into a Real-Time Business Intelligence Platform

Unified Data Platform for Real-Time Business Insights

Manufacturing
April 27, 2026

Project Overview

ABB, a leading global manufacturing and industrial conglomerate, was managing multiple disconnected Excel reports across departments with no unified visibility into performance metrics. Honest AI built a centralized Data Warehouse and Power BI reporting layer that eliminated data silos and gave leadership real-time, cross-functional insights.

Key Achievements

Single source of truth eliminated data conflicts and manual reconciliation effort

Leadership gained real-time visibility into business performance via Power BI

Significant reduction in time spent on manual report management and maintenance

Scalable foundation for future AI and analytics use cases at ABB

Technologies Used

A

Azure Data Warehouse

Centralized storage for all fragmented data sources

D

Dimensional Modeling

Microsoft data engineering best practices for consistent reporting

P

Power BI Service

Interactive dashboards with daily auto-refresh

E

ETL Pipelines

Automated data ingestion and transformation

The Challenge

ABB was managing multiple disconnected Excel reports with unorganized, fragmented data across departments. There was no single source of truth each department maintained its own data silos. Manual reporting processes were error-prone, time-consuming, and difficult to maintain. Leadership lacked real-time visibility into cross-functional performance metrics, limiting data-driven decision-making at the executive level.

The Solution

1

Unified Data Warehouse

Built a centralized Azure Data Warehouse aggregating data from multiple heterogeneous source systems

2

Dimensional Data Model

Developed a dimensional model using Microsoft data engineering best practices for reliable cross-department reporting.

3

Power BI Dashboards

Delivered multiple Power BI reports hosted on Power BI Service covering key business performance areas.

4

Auto-Refresh Pipelines

Configured daily auto-refresh so dashboards are always current with zero manual updates required.

Results

Single
Source of Truth
Real-Time
Business Insights
70%+
Reporting Time Saved
Zero
Manual Reporting

Key Results

• Architecture and implementation of Azure Data Warehouse

• Dimensional data modeling aligned to Microsoft best practices

• ETL pipeline development for multi-source data ingestion

• Power BI dashboard design and deployment on Power BI Service

• Role-based access configuration and auto-refresh scheduling

Impact Summary

The Data & Analytics Modernization project transformed ABB's reporting landscape from fragmented, manual Excel-based processes to a unified, automated intelligence layer. Leadership now has a reliable, real-time view of performance across all functions, enabling faster and more confident decision-making

Looking Ahead

The data warehouse foundation supports future AI use cases including predictive maintenance, supply chain optimization, and AI-powered executive dashboards enabling ABB to continuously grow its analytics maturity

Ready to Transform Your Workflows?

Let's discuss how AI can drive similar results for your organization.