{"id":3801,"date":"2022-01-18T12:53:30","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T20:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=wherenext&p=3801"},"modified":"2025-01-09T05:24:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-09T13:24:15","slug":"enterprise-technology-behind-big-business-decisions","status":"publish","type":"wherenext","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/publications\/wherenext\/enterprise-technology-behind-big-business-decisions","title":{"rendered":"The Enterprise Technology behind Big Business Decisions"},"author":671,"featured_media":8031,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1001,381312,369792],"tags":[],"department":[488812],"wherenext-category":[],"industry":[],"class_list":["post-3801","wherenext","type-wherenext","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial","category-cxo-priorities","category-location-intelligence","department-emerging-technologies"],"acf":{"short_description":"Businesses make hundreds of location-based decisions each day, and GIS can add intelligence to each one. ","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"A little-known technology is helping business executives make big decisions. The geographic information system has quietly landed in various sectors of the commercial world, allowing executives who recognize its power to analyze information based on location<\/a> and improve their decision-making.\r\n\r\nConsumer goods manufacturers are using GIS<\/a> and spatial analytics to track social media activity, spotting brand preferences in certain areas of the country and spending their marketing budgets more efficiently.\r\n\r\nInsurers are using GIS-based hot-spot analysis\u2014a form of artificial intelligence<\/a>\u2014to find trends in big data that the human analyst can\u2019t see, helping them price risk more effectively."},{"acf_fc_layout":"sidebar","layout":"standard","image_reference":null,"image_reference_figure":"","spotlight_image":null,"section_title":"","spotlight_name":"","position":"Left","content":"

GIS: An Executive Summary<\/h2>\r\n

What<\/h3>\r\nA geographic information system (GIS) delivers real-time, location-based insight. GIS can capture and analyze any data with a spatial context, from the location of a company's trucks and drivers, to the spending habits of people on a particular block, to the effects of weather patterns moving across the country.\r\n

Why<\/h3>\r\nBecause location information is key to market intelligence, operational intelligence, real-time awareness, and more. As companies strive to answer customer needs, boost revenue, and set strategic direction, GIS provides insight on fundamental questions like: Where are sales trending upward? Where are we missing opportunities? What threats are on the horizon?\r\n

Who<\/h3>\r\nGIS delivers insight to the field and to the corner office. Leading companies have recognized its crucial role as a business intelligence tool and are using GIS to optimize the work streams of service technicians, risk analysts, business planners, and executives.","snippet":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"City planners are leveraging the 3D mapping capabilities of GIS to visualize the design of smart cities, saving time over conventional methods and exposing opportunities for innovation. Meanwhile, retailers are using lidar to map their stores, and technologies like Li-Fi to understand shoppers\u2019 preferences\u2014all with the help of GIS.\r\n\r\n(Listen to this podcast<\/a> to learn how leading companies are using location intelligence to enhance BI and CRM.)\r\n\r\nGIS analyzes data in the context of geography and time, allowing business leaders to visualize information tied to specific locations. An executive can answer questions such as, How can I optimize the movement of assets to decrease costs? Where do demographic and psychographic trends indicate a profitable location for my new store?\r\n\r\nSome companies are pushing GIS into new realms of business insight; others are solving core business problems. In this primer, we\u2019ll highlight companies that have earned measurable business benefits by applying GIS technology in specific business scenarios."},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Supply Chain Optimization<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nFor any business built on the movement of assets through a supply chain, GIS can be a vital ally. With the help of data from mobile devices, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, and the Internet of Things, GIS can provide real-time intelligence on assets in motion as well as insight that helps a company better plan the movement of those assets.\r\n\r\nUPS has become a master of GIS-based optimization. From the early days of its founders to today\u2019s innovations, the company and its engineers have leveraged operational analytics to pioneer many efficient approaches to goods delivery.\r\n\r\nBy avoiding left-hand turns, for instance, UPS eliminated the need to cross traffic, saving time and increasing driver safety. GIS technology helped the company<\/a> operationalize the no-lefts policy\u2014and many other efficiency measures."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":8211,"image_position":"left","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"UPS recently implemented a system called ORION (On Road Integrated Optimization and Navigation), which is rooted in GIS technology. The system acts as a logistics command center, weighing the stops a driver must make against variables such as timed deliveries and fuel usage. With the help of advanced analytics, the system often prescribes delivery routes that look counterintuitive to the human eye, but create measurable benefits for the company and its customers. (Learn more in this podcast<\/a> with UPS's Jack Levis.)\r\n\r\nBusiness Benefit<\/strong>\u2014Through a combination of GIS and business intelligence technology, UPS annually saves 100 million miles, 10 million gallons of fuel, and $300 million to $400 million.\r\n

Location Planning <\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThe largest sporting goods retailer in the US is using a creative team of analysts and GIS technology to:\r\n