Merco Machines designs and builds high-quality machines and complete production lines for the production and reconditioning of steel drums, with capacities of up to 900 drums per hour. The company supplies customised solutions worldwide, from drum part production to final processing and automation. Thanks to its in-house production, experienced engineers and focus on quality and customer satisfaction, Merco Machines offers reliable, efficient and future-oriented total solutions, including installation, training and service.
Merco Machines lacked a clear picture of the profitability of its machines. Without underlying figures, decisions were often based on intuition rather than data. The company needed a reliable tool to arrive at realistic cost and price estimates for new projects, based on historical data from comparable projects. There was a clear need for in-depth insight into financial performance, down to the most detailed level.
The goal was to develop a Power BI report that would enable Merco Machines to analyse its financial results per machine. To achieve this, we needed to obtain the necessary data in a smooth, scalable and structured manner. After a few workshops, we had a better understanding of the required data and tables and drew up a dimensional data model. In Azure, we set up a Databricks data platform according to our data framework and with bronze, silver and gold layers. The entire setup was done in IaC (Infrastructure as Code) so that we could deploy quickly, collaborate smoothly and perform version control.
We then built a Power BI dataset on the gold layer so that we could develop a report that Merco Machines could use to analyse its financial results per machine – down to the smallest details. In addition, a post-calculation tool was set up so that previous projects could serve as a reference for sales analyses and cost price calculations for new machines. The underlying data is managed via Databricks, from which Power BI automatically retrieves the most up-to-date data.
Merco Machines now has a robust and scalable data platform and a clear and detailed financial overview for each project. Sales managers have a powerful tool at their disposal to make well-founded and market-based price calculations. This not only improves the monitoring of returns, but also strengthens the commercial process with data-driven insights.
