Fasteners distributor and manufacturer Optimas Solutions shared Sept. 22 that it has achieved a key milestone in its “Forward Faster” transformation strategy.

Optimas said the new benchmark includes onboarding key business intelligence personnel, implementing new analytics tools and publishing custom reporting that will provide predictive, personalized forecasts for customers.

 “The goal of the BI team is to develop forecasting data analytics that helps customers make more informed decisions, particularly with industrial-tier manufacturing clients and mid-tier supply chain suppliers” said Daniel Harms, president of the Americas for Optimas, in a news release. “In the past year, the BI team has increased from two to 11 teammates, creating and filling many vital business analytics roles that serve Optimas’ audiences.” 

Wood Dale, Illinois-based Optimas — which also provides inventory management services and supply chain solutions — was No. 29 on MDM’s 2022 Top Industrial Distributors list with $637 in 2021 revenue and ranked as the No. 8 Top Fasteners Distributor.

Optimas’ BI team focuses on supply chain digitization initiatives, such as upgrading software tools with NetSuite, ToolsGroup and Tableau. One of them included developing a library of 120 reports that employees can customize to analyze inventory management, inflation, sales and customer relationships, sourcing and demand planning. Ultimately, those new reports provide users with self-service tools to actively manage each portion of the business.

“This is a critical next step as we move Forward Faster toward transformation,” added Mark Korba, Optimas vice president of business intelligence, Americas. “We’ve already received solid customer feedback on our ability to provide better insight into purchasing, inventory management and optimization of the fastener supply chain. In short, these tools are helping customers with visibility and assurance by enabling them to know how the fasteners affect their overall manufacturing operations.”

Likewise, Optimas said its BI team works closely with suppliers to utilize data and analytics for managing inventory, improving supply chain operations and reducing costs.

“When we set out to break down our plan into well-defined areas of improvement, it was important that all of them track back to or support our overall goals,” Harms said. “We did an excellent job of defining those workstreams and are tackling each with integrity and great specificity to improve every aspect of the business. The Business Intelligence team has been a big part of making this happen as we strive to be a technology and data-driven organization.”