BIG DATA in practice

Left Loyalty together with its media partners Wallbrink Crossmedia and b2b Communications is unlocking the secrets of big data in food. Virtually every company uses LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Analytics, their own newsletters, CRM, and the list goes on... but it is now possible to manage, analyse and monitor all that data from a single dashboard at www.BigDataInFood.com. 

BigDataInFood.com goes a step further than merely providing a helicopter view. “We have the technological capabilities to collect and extract even more real-time data,” says developer Alex Schoone from Left Loyalty BV. “This can be combined with your ERP or CRM system – think of sales, intention per product, and so on. We can use the new software to uncover new, unexpected correlations and links and to predict patterns. It can also be interesting to zoom in on predictive models, clusters and intentions. This makes it possible to forecast who is going to buy what and when.”

John Wallbrink from Wallbrink Crossmedia explains that, based on the analysis, you can then set up targeted campaigns, further develop your products or improve your efficiency, for example. “You can use the portal to ask questions tailored to your own business. This is a pretty easy way of unearthing the data that really matters.”

Bob Lemmen, Marketing Manager at Lantech, has already seized the opportunity with both hands: “You can’t hold back progress. I think that this, alongside the knowledge and experience of qualified employees, will become the best method for gathering information. It’s important for companies to remain close to their markets. Nowadays, you need to know what the trends will be – and ideally you have to stay ahead of them. There are billions of websites and forums but it’s impossible to keep track of them all to stay up to date on developments. The packaging world is huge and it’s difficult to get a clear overview of what’s really going on in the market. We can’t afford to get left behind. In fact, we want to be leading the way! Knowledge is power, as the saying goes. We also obtain information through the existing channels of course: from our customers, consumers and manufacturers. But that alone is no longer enough.” 

How do you expect to benefit from this?

Our core business is the supply of packaging machines and solutions. But we do more than that: we are also keen to position ourselves as a packaging expert. We already have a lot of knowledge, but we want – and need – to keep it up to date because in order to sell something to customers you first have to be able to advise them. We are specialised in solutions which prevent products from becoming damaged in transit from A to B. Did you know that 1% of all goods transported worldwide are damaged in transit? So you can imagine what kind of figures we’re talking about. Packaging materials are becoming thinner all the time which is in turn making it more difficult to avoid damage during transport. We need knowledge in order to identify new or improved packaging solutions that solve this problem. We already have lots of knowledge in-house. We have contact with external packaging technologists and people who know all about cardboard and films. Furthermore, our own people have an in-depth understanding of not only the machines and their underlying technology, but also of the products that pass through them. They have unrivalled knowledge of what you can do with cardboard and they know all about its properties and possibilities. That means that we are up to date, but it doesn’t help us to predict the future. The new analytical techniques for big data do.”

How is that affecting your approach to business?

In the past we used to make a five-year or ten-year plan but that no longer works. Things are changing too quickly for that; you have to be able to respond. Ten years ago we seriously set to work with lean methodology which means that we’ve since got used to our company being agile enough to react to changes quickly. Nevertheless, we’re actually based on a stable proposition: ‘there is a product and that product needs a box’. The basic packaging format itself hardly changes – it will always be a cardboard box or a tray. But what does change is the material – its properties and its shape – and also the trends in wider society. One consequence of the growth of e-commerce, for example, is that companies are faced with a wide variety of order sizes which is stimulating the need for made-to-measure packaging. Another trend is the popularity of discounters such as Aldi and Lidl, where all the products are supplied ‘shelf-ready’ in boxes that can immediately be placed in store. In addition, marketing departments are continually asking for new packaging concepts, such as displays, cut-outs, perforated edges, you name it. You need to capitalise on developments like these quickly. We have to adapt or fine-tune our machinery in line with them because it also takes time to develop new products.”

“Every quarter, Sales and the board of directors look at where we are and where we want to be. In order to have a clear view of that, it’s really important for us to have continual access to the right information. The market is changing so rapidly. We want to know what people are talking about so that we can stay ahead of tomorrow’s trends.”

Changes can also cause resistance. What’s your – and Lantech’s – take on that?

“I think it’s exciting, and above all it’s got us all very enthusiastic. I’ve noticed that the people around me are open to the idea and understand that we need to act. Right now we’re mainly still trying to get over the unbelievable amount of information you can extract from big data, providing you have access to the right tools, technology and knowledge and ask the right questions. I love change because it offers new opportunities. Of course, you also have to free up the necessary time for a new project like this, but I’m convinced that our ‘big data in food’ will end up saving us time in the long run.”