OrganizationAqua Clara is a leader in the water delivery industry, providing high-purity water to homes and offices.

The ChallengeHelp partners and franchises throughout the nation develop business activities by offering them a tool for aggregating and analyzing customer data from a new main operating system.

The StrategyImplement a comprehensive, fully integrated business intelligence solution that can browse and access data via the Web; offers an intuitive interface for non-technical users; can be installed quickly; and supports the reporting needs of the company and its partners.

The ResultsImproved the efficiency of data aggrega-tion and analysis operations. Partners can provide better service to customers, and management can offer more insightful advice to franchises.

Information Builders SolutionWebFOCUS.

Snapshot

Customer Profile

Aqua Clara

Aqua Clara, a leader in the water delivery industry known for its high-quality purifying system, improved its information sharing ability with Information Builders WebFOCUS.

Information Builders enables agile information

solutions with business intelligence (BI) and

integration technologies. WebFOCUS – the most

widely utilized business intelligence platform –

connects to any enterprise system or application

and enables simple and intuitive interaction

with information.

WebFOCUS Purifies Aqua Clara’s DataWater-Delivery Company Improves Information-Sharing Ability With Updated Business Intelligence

Aqua Clara is a leader in the water delivery industry, providing water bottles to homes and offices. Best known for its safe, high-quality water-purifying system, Aqua Clara has more than 70 franchise companies that produce and sell water.

The company headquarters in Japan is responsible for providing its franchises with the required business resources and knowledge, as well as managing water production and quality. Over the past few years, increased government orders on natural disaster preparedness have established Aqua Clara as part of the country’s social infrastructure.

Aqua Clara offered a main operating system to its partner community as a means of sharing business information. However, the system only covered sales operations management. If partner companies wanted to aggregate and/or analyze information from a certain viewpoint, they needed to obtain the data in CSV format and process

it manually. Most of the company’s partners are small businesses that cannot afford technicians to handle data processing.

Additionally, these cumbersome aggregation and analysis processes were a huge drain on Aqua Clara’s resources. Monthly sales reports from partners were printed and distributed in hard-copy formats, so data needed to be rekeyed into the main system to generate related reports. Results were typically not available until, at the earliest, half a month later – a delay that negatively impacted the company’s ability to provide advice and guidance to its partners.

When Aqua Clara joined ACLemon Groups, the company decided to renovate its main operating system, and planned to extend it with a data-aggregation and analysis tool to better support partner businesses. Because the company’s business model is so unique, it wanted to develop the reporting system in-house using a robust tool set.

There were four main requirements Aqua Clara defined when it began evaluating business intelligence (BI) systems: the solution had to provide access to data via the Web; it had to have a user-friendly interface for non-technical staff; it had to be fast and easy to install; and it had to offer fixed-fee pricing regardless of the number of users.

“First, we wanted a product that was Web-based, since client/server systems can be quite troublesome when it comes to installation and maintenance, and would require each partner company to purchase an individual license,” said Naomasa Furuya, director, general manager of product development at Aqua Clara. “Simplicity was also very important, as our partners do not necessarily have a person on staff who is familiar with data analysis.

“Furthermore, the product had to offer accelerated development, because we needed to devote the bulk of our development resources to building the new main operating system. And, finally, licensing was another important point. We wanted to avoid products that charged more as the number of users increased, since our base of partner companies was rapidly growing.”

After comparing numerous solutions on the market, and assessing their ability to meet the criterion, the company chose WebFOCUS, a business intelligence platform sold by Information Builders’ Japanese representative K.K. Ashisuto. WebFOCUS is a comprehensive, fully integrated, enterprise-scale platform that delivers powerful and feature-rich, yet intuitive business intelligence across an entire organization, enabling timely, accurate reporting at the executive, analytical, and operational levels. With WebFOCUS, any data, in any enterprise source (including documents and other unstructured formats), is made readily available, accessible, and meaningful to any user, in any location.

WebFOCUS would serve as the foundation of a reporting environment that would help Aqua Clara’s partners increase client satisfaction. The system would also be used to analyze operations at the company’s headquarters.

Because WebFOCUS is Web-based, users never need to install and maintain software on their desktops. Its simple user interface and GUI development environment ensure the highest productivity. Additionally, processor-based licensing makes it affordable and economical to scale and expand the system to support additional partner companies and their users.

“We wanted a product that was Web-based, since client/server systems can be quite troublesome when it comes to installation and maintenance and would require each partner company to purchase an individual license.”

With WebFOCUS, the partner business-support system was designed, developed, and tested in three months, then put into full-fledged production just one month later. Now, partners can easily retrieve, consolidate, and analyze information that used to require much more time and energy to access. For example, partner companies can perform highly sophisticated data segmentation, classifying customers by property, researching purchasing tendencies by group, or examining which marketing method will be most effective for certain audiences. They can also instantly create lists of the best and worst customers based on prior purchases, payment histories, and other factors. Because users can rapidly create visual reports in the format of their choice, such as Excel and PDF, the data they need to address customer needs is now just one click away.

Partner companies appreciate the new system, as it allows them to leverage data about each individual customer to provide more personalized service. The system has also contributed to increased profitability by enabling Aqua Clara to provide better advice to its franchises. As a result, both partners and company executives want to expand the reporting environment even further.

“The greatest difference is that WebFOCUS simplifies data access, which used to require a lot of time and labor,” Furuya adds. “Now, partners can obtain what they need with just a single mouse click. Additionally, corporate management has vital information that can be used to more intelligently advise those partner companies who are struggling to increase sales.”

In the future, Aqua Clara plans to reinforce marketing activities based on customer analysis using WebFOCUS, and will enhance its corporate reporting environment with a fully integrated geographical information system. Armed with timely, relevant, and complete business data, the company’s community-based business is likely to continue to grow.

Find Out MoreTo find out how our solutions

can help your company

succeed, talk to an Information

Builders representative today.

Contact your local Information

Builders office, visit us at

informationbuilders.com,

or in the U.S. and Canada,

call (800) 969-4636.

“The greatest difference is that WebFOCUS simplifies data access, which used to require a lot of time and labor.”

Worldwide Offices

Corporate Headquarters Two Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121-2898 (212) 736-4433 Fax (212) 967-6406 DN1700317.1009 informationbuilders.com askinfo@informationbuilders.comCanadian Headquarters 150 York St., Suite 1000, Toronto, ON M5H 3S5 (416) 364-2760 Fax (416) 364-6552For International Inquiries +1(212) 736-4433

Copyright © 2009 by Information Builders. All rights reserved. [86] All products and product names mentioned in this publication are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Printed in the U.S.A. on recycled paper

North AmericaUnited States

■■ Atlanta,* GA (770) 395-9913■■ Baltimore, MD Professional Services:

(703) 247-5565Boston,*■■ MA (781) 224-7660Channels,■■ (800) 969-4636Chicago,*■■ IL (630) 971-6700Cincinnati,*■■ OH (513) 891-2338Dallas,*■■ TX (972) 490-1300Denver,*■■ CO (303) 770-4440Detroit,*■■ MI (248) 641-8820Federal Systems,*■■ DC (703) 276-9006Hartford,■■ CT (860) 249-7229Houston,*■■ TX (713) 952-4800Los Angeles,*■■ CA (310) 615-0735Minneapolis,*■■ MN (651) 602-9100New Jersey*■■ Sales: (973) 593-0022New York,*■■ NY Sales: (212) 736-7928 Professional Services: (212) 736-4433, ext. 4443Orlando,*■■ FL (407) 804-8000Philadelphia,*■■ PA Sales: (610) 940-0790Phoenix,■■ AZ (480) 346-1095Pittsburgh,■■ PA Sales: (412) 494-9699St. Louis,*■■ MO (636) 519-1411San Jose,*■■ CA (408) 453-7600Seattle,■■ WA (206) 624-9055Washington,*■■ DC Sales: (703) 276-9006 Professional Services: (703) 247-5565

CanadaInformation Builders (Canada) Inc.

Montreal*■■ (514) 421-1555Ottawa■■ (613) 233-7647Toronto*■■ (416) 364-2760Vancouver■■ (604) 688-2499

MexicoInformation Builders Mexico

Mexico City■■ 52-55-5062-0660

AustraliaInformation Builders Pty. Ltd.

Melbourne*■■ 61-3-9631-7900Sydney*■■ 61-2-8223-0600

Toll-Free NumberSales, ISV, VAR, and SI Partner Information■■ (800) 969-4636

EuropeBelgium*■■ Information Builders Belgium Brussels 32-2-7430240France*■■ Information Builders France S.A. Paris 33-14-507-6600Germany■■ Information Builders (Deutschland) Eschborn* 49-6196-77576-0Netherlands*■■ Information Builders (Netherlands) B.V. Amsterdam 31-20-4563333Portugal■■ Information Builders Portugal Lisbon 351-217-217-400Spain■■ Information Builders Iberica S.A. Barcelona 34-93-344-32-70 Bilbao 34-94-452-50-15 Madrid* 34-91-710-22-75Switzerland■■ Information Builders Switzerland AG Dietlikon 41-44-839-49-49United Kingdom*■■ Information Builders (UK) Ltd. London 44-845-658-8484

RepresentativesAustria■■ Raiffeisen Informatik Consulting GmbH Vienna 43-12-1136-3870Bahrain■■ InfoBuild Middle East Dubai 973-17-536-222, ext. 312Brazil■■ InfoBuild Brazil Ltda. São Paulo 55-11-3285-1050China■■ InfoBuild China, Inc. Shanghai 86-21-5080-5432 Beijing Xinrong Software Technology Co., Ltd. Beijing 86-10-5873-2031Denmark■■ InfoBuild AB Kista, SE 46-735-23-34-97Egypt■■ InfoBuild Middle East Abu Dhabi 971-2-627-5911 Dubai 971-4-3914391Ethiopia■■ MKTY IT Services Plc Addis Ababa 251-11-5501933Finland■■ InfoBuild Oy Vantaa 358-207-580-840Greece■■ Applied Science Athens 30-210-699-8225Guatemala■■ IDS de Centroamerica Guatemala City 502-2412-4212India*■■ InfoBuild India Chennai 91-44-42177082Israel■■ SRL Group Ltd. Tel Aviv 972-3-7662030Italy■■ NessPRO Italy S.p.A. Genoa 39-010-64201-224 Milan 39-02-2515181 Turin 39-011-5513-211

Japan■■ K.K. Ashisuto Osaka 81-6-6373-7113 Tokyo 81-3-5276-5863Jordan■■ InfoBuild Middle East Abu Dhabi 971-2-627-5911 Dubai 971-4-3914391Kuwait■■ InfoBuild Middle East Dubai 965-22322926Lebanon■■ InfoBuild Middle East Dubai 961-4-533162Norway■■ InfoBuild Norway Oslo 47-48-20-40-30Oman■■ InfoBuild Middle East Abu Dhabi 971-2-627-5911 Dubai 971-4-3914391Poland/Central and Eastern Europe■■ InfoBuild SP.J. Warsaw 48-22-657-00-14Qatar■■ InfoBuild Middle East Dubai 974-467-7311Russian Federation■■ FOBOS Plus Co., Ltd. Moscow 7-495-926-3358Saudi Arabia■■ InfoBuild Middle East Riyadh 996-1-2180280Singapore■■ Automatic Identification Technology Ltd. Singapore 65-6286-2922South Africa■■ InfoBuild South Africa (Pty.) Ltd. Gauteng 27-83-4600800 Fujitsu Services (Pty.) Ltd. Johannesburg 27-11-2335911South Korea■■ Unitech Infocom Co. Ltd. Seoul 82-2-2026-3100 UVANSYS Seoul 82-2-832-0705Sweden■■ InfoBuild AB Kista 46-735-23-34-97Taiwan■■ Galaxy Software Services Taipei 886-2-2586-7890Thailand■■ Datapro Computer Systems Co. Ltd. Bangkok 662-679-1927, ext. 200Turkey■■ InfoBuild Middle East Ankara 90-312-266-33-00 Istanbul 90-212-325-4114United Arab Emirates■■ InfoBuild Middle East Abu Dhabi 971-2-627-5911 Dubai 971-4-3914391Venezuela■■ InfoServices Consulting Caracas 58-212-763-1653

* Training facilities are located at these branches.