Faced with a manual compliancy check process that took 36 days a year, was prone to inaccuracies and suffered from a lack of dependability, our client, a global manufacturing company enlisted the help of The Information Lab Consultant, Nikita Parab. By automating the process with Tableau Prep Builder, we were able to create an automated process with the below advantages.

Tableau Prep Builder Automation Advantages

• The Tableau Prep Builder workflow takes 2 minutes to run, cutting down the time needed for this task from 1 day to 2 minutes
• Very little scope for error. In the case of any errors, they will show throughout the projects rather than on just one line, making it easy to correct the error.
• Anyone can run the workflow, meaning there are no issues associated with leave or unforeseen absences
• All projects and complexities can be combined together to give an overall picture of the compliance status of ongoing projects

Let’s take a more in depth look at how this was done…

The purpose of our client’s compliancy check process is to check the compliancy status of a variety of projects at three specified points throughout each month. Prior to the implementation of our Tableau Prep Builder solution, this process had a number of drawbacks.

These drawbacks were:

• The process was time consuming process (1 day for each check), as there needed to be a manual check to ensure all documents had been uploaded
• A scope for manual error, e.g. situations where projects that were compliant were marked as non-compliant and vice versa, numbers not matching or missing validation
• There was a lack of dependability, i.e. if someone was on leave, the process would take longer as someone less skilled at the task would be doing it

In order to counteract the above issues our consultant implemented a Tableau Prep Builder solution that focused on efficiency and accuracy. To get a better idea of how this solution worked, we must first find out how Tableau Prep Builder works, as well as exploring our client’s compliancy process in a little more detail.

What is Tableau Prep Builder?

Tableau Prep Builder is different from Tableau Desktop as it’s used for primary preparation of data, as opposed to being used for visualisations. Data can be saved in Excel, CSV or hyperfile format which can then be used in Tableau Desktop. Although Tableau Prep Builder is not the same as Tableau Desktop, it does come free with the Tableau license.

Now, let’s take a look at our client’s compliancy process…

How does our client’s compliancy software work?

Associates enter the compliance status for each project into a tailored software solution, an add-in is then used to extract data into Excel. This data is then used to determine the compliance status of each project, as well as running the prep flow. If the project hasn’t met all the requirements, it will be flagged in the system as non-compliant, so the relevant team member can upload the documentation necessary to ensure compliancy.

What was the compliancy process prior to this project?

• 3 data reads each month 
• Between 100-200 projects in each read
• Each project was checked manually

What is the new process?

Our consultant implemented Tableau Prep Builder to create a process that automated the compliance checking system by using data extract columns pulled from our client’s software. This solution boasts a number of significant advantages in comparison to the former system, most notably cutting down the time spent on each check from one day to two minutes, as well as increased accuracy and dependability.

If you want to learn more about how we can help your business improve efficiencies, please feel free to get in touch.