Business Intelligence Analyze the Case of SunPower Ltd †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Business Intelligence of SunPower Ltd. Answer: Introduction In this case study we will analyze the case of SunPower ltd, the company is the highest producer of the worlds most efficient solar cells. These solar cells are known as photovoltaics. However with the advent of the technology it can be seen that the present position of the SunPower Company is in a lot of danger, as companies are coming up with better and advanced ways of making use of the new technology to bring new improvements in the field of solar power and solar cells (Guragai, et al., 2017). The companies are trying to improve the overall efficiency of these solar cells with the use of these technological changes and that might affect the overall position of the SunPower Company. Thus the CEO of the company is looking for ways by which they can keep their present position safe and can retain their present market share (Werner, 2017). For this, the company needs to make an effective use of the present business intelligence techniques by which they can solve their present issues and improve their overall operations. This will help in generation of more profit and will also help in improving the efficiency of the photovoltaic blubs that the company is producing (Bromwich Scapens, 2016). Business intelligence can be defined as technology that helps in effective analysis of large volume of data and makes it easy for the companies to deal with it. There are various BI tools that are there in the market and the companies can choose as per their own needs. It helps the managers to make informed decisions and also helps the employees to improve their overall efficiency (Trieu, 2017). The different types of BI tools are AD-hoc reporting and analysis, data visualization and data discovery and online analytical processing. These tools will help in effective management of the data that is churned by the company and the companies will be helped by it. The other uses of the business intelligence tools are that it helps in effective management of the logistics, it helps in reducing the errors that might occur due to manual intervention (Kew Stredwick, 2017). It also helps in the overall management of the various departments of the company. It can be seen that the companies will be benefited a lot this as a lot of time will be saved with the help of it. There are variety of software available in the market that can be customized as per the needs of the company, and there are a variety of vendors who sell these software. It is thus important for the companies to do the proper research before selecting the best software for the company (Alexander, 2016). Applying the use of it in case of the SunPower company we can analyze how it will help in solving the problems that the company might be facing (Visinescu, et al., 2017). Critical Analysis There are few issues that the company is facing and that are affecting its overall growth and development. Environmental issues The main aspect for the use of solar power to generate these solar cells is that is very eco-friendly and will be useful for the people, as it helps in reudicng the Co2 emission. But with the development of better alternatives and many renewable sources, the problem of CO2 emission is being solved at a faster rate. Thus the importance of the solar cells has reduced, as the renewable sources contribute to more than 13% of the energy needs of the world. The photo cells contribute to only 0.4% of the electricity of the world. Hence we see that the overall need for the solar cells has reduced (Venezia, 2017). Pricing- The overall cost of producing these solar cells was very high, and was mostly two-three times more than the cost of the electricity that they were producing. This was causing a lot of problem to the companies, as with the introduction of other sources that provided the equal or better electricity the companies were running into losses because of these solar cells. To solve the problem the system of the grid was introduced with the help of which households that had a huge amount of spare solar energy can transfer it to the grid and they can use it for generating electricity (Guragai, et al., 2017). Strict Competition- It can be seen that presently the company is facing stiff competition from other competitors like Sharp Solar-Cells, REC Group, First Solar, Suntech, and Citizens etc. These companies are bringing new changes in the present technology every now and then and are helping in the betterment of the solar cells and the use of the solar power. In this way, we see that they are effectively using the tools of the business intelligence that is helping them in the growth of their companies. The SunPower can take cues from its competitors and can involve the same in their operations to make effective progress (Hall Rapanotti, 2017). Now making an analysis of the overall case study we can say that the company can make use of the tools of BI for improving their overall performance. Knowledge-Based Systems- The Company can make use of the various knowledge-based system tools that can help the company in getting better knowledge about the various aspects of production and will be helpful to the managers of the company. The managers will get a clear idea of the changes that they might need in improving the system. The company can get knowledge about the various alternatives to the materials that are used in the cells like the silicon chips, ignors-wafers, cells, and modules etc. The BI tools will help the company in getting knowledge about these products and they can make effective use of the same (Charlton, et al., 2017). We see that there is a situation where the company wanted to commercialize the solar concentrator21 technology, but they needed to get proper information and consider various aspects before taking proper decisions. It was found that the PV alternative was lower and this new technology might not be suited for small distributed remote applications , hence the company needed for proper knowledge before taking their decisions and that can be solved with the help of the BI tools that might help in getting the required information. Knowledge sharing will help in generating better knowledge processes and knowledge practices. It will help in creating new knowledge among the different departments of the company and help in the flow of information. Internal BI Tools The Company can use various internal BI tools that can help them in data mining, data analytics, and management. These applications can be brought from any vendors in the market easily and can be customized as per the needs of the company. It will help SunPower in the management of their large amount of data. The company is one of the best in the business and it has a large amount of data to be taken care of, there are many problems that the management of the company faces in their day to day activity. That can be solved with the help of using the business intelligence tools. The companies can provide training to their employees to make effective use of the electricity and it can be very helpful in the future . Thus these tools will be helpful in the long run. Decision Support System It can be seen that when the companies are able to take the right decision at the right time then they are able to avoid a lot of situations that might lead to huge losses. In the given case we see that if the managers of the company are able to take an effective decision as and when needed they will be able to solve a lot of issues. For example- we saw that NASA asked the company to create certain cells that are specially customized for them, the company was able to successfully deliver the same but NASA asked for a reduction of the cost. But for that, it was required that the company must upscale its production and in that case, we see that it was important for the managers of the company to have detailed analysis and take an effective decision (Arnott, et al., 2017). Another example we see that when Honda approached the company to make such cells that might support their solar-powered cars, the managers wasted a lot of time in taking effective decisions wh ether they needed two shifts or one shift and they eventually found that they had no proper information to decide it. Hence with the help of the BI tools, this decision-making problem of the company will be solved. The managers will take effective decisions that will help them in saving a lot of costs and generating more revenues (Belton, 2017). Conclusion After the entire analysis, it can be said that if the companies are using this technique of business intelligence and using the tools accordingly then that will be very helpful in the long run. It will help in solving a lot of issues that the company is facing. The company will be able to manage a large amount of data in the future it will not face that much problem, the issues will be resolved. The company chooses the best tool that is suited to their needs and then can take the decision accordingly (Auken, 2016). Overall if the companies make use of these business intelligence tools they will gain. However there is the other side to it that choosing the best software that might be able to satisfy the needs of the company wont be so easy, a lot of research and analysis needs to be done. The companies might need to provide training to the employees to make them aware of the ways they can use these tools. So these are the few pros and cons of using these software tools by the SunPower Company. Recommendations The SunPower Company should try to implement these tools in their operations, they must take cues from their competitors and make proper analysis before choosing the best software that might be needed for the company. They must get the software customised as per their needs and then choose the best of the lot. In the long run, the company will be benefited . 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