Össur is in the business of improving people’s mobility. As a leading global company in non-invasive orthopaedics, they deliver advanced and innovative technologies within the fields of prosthetics, braces, supports, and compression therapy. Determined to restore maximum biological function to those in need, Össur has more than thirty years experience in the design and production of high-tech orthopaedic devices.
Össur contacted HAYNE regarding support for IBM Cognos Controller. They were looking to add automation to the data import process and a faster way of reporting for their large number of entities from multiple data sources.
Össur had a manual process for adding into Cognos Controller that lacked structure.
Enter, HAYNE Unity
HAYNE Unity is an add-in to IBM Cognos Controller created by HAYNE Solutions. We worked closely with Össur in the implementation of HAYNE Unity to help automate the loading of data from disparate systems across their entities.
Hafdis Bjarnadottir, Director of Consolidation & Reporting comments:
“HAYNE Unity had been on a radar for a long time to help us with the importing of data. We finally reached a point where we were in a position to implement it”.
They were also looking for more of an audit trail and a uniformed and formal process for importing the data.
Overcoming Challenges
HAYNE overcame a number of challenges during the implementation stage. This was around having a separate submission for intercompany data. This required pivoting from the original brief and extending the logic within HAYNE Unity. This allowed Össur to maintain a two-stage submission with status control which was their preferred option.
Some further data cleansing was also applied to remove unwanted data, and to cope with slightly different ways of implementing some data storage between versions of their ERP system as well differences between certain company entities.
Össur had an in-house solution in place which extracted data, and actually did some transformation but there were several manual steps in that process. Unity replaced the in-house solution, incorporated all the transformations that happened in that solution, and made the whole process more uniform and transparent.
Hafdis continues
“I was really impressed with how HAYNE was able to tackle the issues they encountered. The way our system was set up presented unexpected challenges. HAYNE was professional throughout in identifying these issues and solving them quickly. We had regular catch-up sessions for regular updates which showed a high standard of communication”.
Success Criteria
For the project to be considered a success, Össur expected to achieve the following benefits:
- Significant time saving on the importing of data to Cognos Controller across their servers
- Audit trail and a formal process for data input
- The ability to highlight any issues straight away
- Importing data for multiple companies in one go
When reflecting on the project, Össur felt all of the above were met.
Hafdis finally comments,
“I thoroughly enjoyed working with the team at HAYNE throughout the project and was impressed with the level of knowledge shown. The project was completed in the time promised with a high level of efficiency”
Outcomes
HAYNE has successfully installed HAYNE Unity for Össur. The solution is now working to assist them with all of their data loading requirements. There is now much more control around the inputting of data with a formalised and regulated process that provides a clear audit trail. Imported data can no longer be manipulated meaning an increase in accuracy and meaningful conclusions. Össur saves considerable time when inputting data for their entities due to there no longer being separate import specifications for each separate entity. This has reduced time pressures in critical financial periods. Time has been freed up to focus efforts elsewhere rather than inputting data entity by entity. It has also improved what was already an efficient solution, IBM Cognos Controller.
Next Steps
- Contact us to discuss HAYNE Unity and how it can complement and enhance your IBM Cognos Controller solution.