Westvlees, located in Westrozebeke, Belgium, is a European producer of fresh and prepared pork products. They process, freeze, package and label fresh and ready-to-cook dishes, depending on consumer needs. In a year, they process 1.4 million pigs into over 140.000 tons of pork, satisfying consumers in over 50 countries. They have various operations, notably in distribution, wholesale and procurement sectors, but also in retail, catering and restaurant industries.
Westvlees’ main challenge was that they relied heavily on Microsoft Excel for managing financial data and reporting. The complexity of their financial models and the volume of data made it difficult to maintain, scale, and extract insights efficiently. This limitation became increasingly problematic as the organisation sought to improve financial transparency and streamline its reporting processes.
To address this, Westvlees partnered with element61 to migrate these complex Excel spreadsheets into a more robust and dynamic reporting environment using Power BI. This collaboration enabled the financial department to transition from static, manual data handling to an interactive and automated reporting solution.
Throughout the development process, Westvlees worked closely with element61’s team to incorporate additional custom features tailored to their specific financial needs.
The foundation of the solution was Microsoft Power BI, a modern business intelligence platform that enables interactive data visualisation and centralised reporting. By transitioning from Excel to Power BI, Westvlees was able to modernise its financial reporting process, bringing automation and improved data consistency to the financial department.
The solution included customised features requested by Westvlees, tailored specifically to support their internal workflows. One of the key technical benefits was the ability to drill through reports and view supporting documents, like attached bills, directly from the dashboard. This level of interactivity significantly streamlined the way financial data is reviewed and analysed.
The implementation of the Power BI solution brought a noticeable improvement in how financial insights are accessed and interpreted across the organisation. The custom features added during development made the tool especially valuable for the financial department.