Balancing Efficiency and Partnership Through Data Collaboration

Wire Belt manufactures stainless steel conveyor belts for food processing customers and relies on distribution partners to keep local replacement stock. While the partner preferred drop shipping to reduce inventory costs, Wire Belt faced mounting shipping expenses from numerous small orders. Both sides agreed that drop ships were necessary for emergencies, but neither had visibility into who requested them or how often they occurred. Without this transparency, they struggled to align operational priorities and control costs.

We started by facilitating open data sharing between Wire Belt and the distribution partner’s business data owners, ensuring both teams understood the shared goal: balancing service quality with financial efficiency. Through stakeholder interviews and data exploration, we merged ERP data with the partner’s internal requests to map drop ship frequency, customers involved, and part-level details. This discovery phase revealed opportunities for focused cost reduction rather than broad restrictions.

Using Power BI and Excel, we built a modular dashboard that could pivot between high-level insights and specific customer or part details. The report enabled both Wire Belt and the partner to: • Visualize drop ship trends by customer, branch, and part type • Identify repeat shipments and high-cost customers • Quantify the financial impact of excessive small-order drop ships • Model scenarios for adjusting stocking levels or consolidating shipments These insights pinpointed a handful of customers driving most of the extra cost, allowing leaders to establish targeted stocking agreements instead of company-wide limits.