Julia Weiss from Steiff on strategy work with data and teddy bears

"Strategies alone are paper tigers."

After switching to the cloud, the cuddly toy specialist Steiff is confronted with new data strategy issues. As Senior Data Analyst, Julia Weiss is responsible for the practice-oriented planning and implementation of technological components in the future-oriented traditional company.

Julia, teddy bears and data - how do they go together?

Very good! Every professionally run business is planned and controlled with the help of data. In fact, through Margarete Steiff GmbH, we also produce fashion for children and babies in addition to soft toys and games. Our Group also includes the company AIGO-TEC. As an automotive supplier, we manufacture valves for tire pressure monitoring. Data plays an important role for us in all these areas.

Now I'm wondering how teddy bears and valves fit together.

Steiff has always been a family business. After Margarete Steiff brought her favorite creative nephew into the company at the end of the 19th century, he developed a valve cone after the First World War, brought it to series production and finally supplied the German tire industry. Today, AIGO-TEC serves customers from the automotive and industrial sectors worldwide.

Does the importance of data differ in these areas?

It doesn't matter whether you build and sell teddy bears or security components. On a meta-level
, the general requirements are similar. With Steiff, we are certainly dealing with a very likeable brand with a cuddle factor, but we also have to provide facts and figures. That's where the data comes in. We are professionally positioned in all areas and want to make data-driven decisions.

How long has the topic of data been present in your company?

I myself have been working for the Steiff Group since 2019. When I started as a performance analyst in the digital web store, there was an awareness of the importance of data, but there was still a lack of tools that we were used to in larger companies. We still worked a lot with Excel and the topic was not yet centralized.

The last five years have certainly been a period in which data-driven business has become enormously important in many German
companies has gained enormously in importance.

This is also the case with us. In the last two or three years in particular, we have switched to modern structures. Of course, as a medium-sized company, we struggle with the usual hurdles, such as budget issues. Finding staff with data expertise is also not easy, especially at our somewhat remote location.

You are now a Senior Data Analyst.

Since the year before last, right. The entire data project was brought into IT and therefore into the holding company. The need in the specialist departments was seen and it quickly became clear from an organizational point of view that this had to be taken to the top, because data initiatives only work with the backing of the management. This way, we don't just launch a use case here and there, but we can look centrally and consider what we can achieve on a large scale. One of the first topics back then was the cloud. For our colleagues in IT, these were new challenges that we were able to overcome well in the new setting.

When did the topic of data strategy first come up?

We are pursuing an IT strategy for the Steiff Group. We recognized the need for a data strategy project in the past and subsequently implemented it. We have already implemented the first projects in Operation 4.0, for example MES data connections to monitor the manufacturing process from raw material to finished product. We want to enable the machine to make data-based decisions, but first we need to be able to tap into all of this data. This means creating the basics, having a repository for data and being able to organize it.

"Having a flagship project is important."

What application scenarios do you see in the future?

Working with taod has taught us that we need to work in a more use case-driven way and not focus on a single big bang. Having a lighthouse project is important.

It's an advantage if you're a data expert in IT.

Yes, this gives us a more differentiated view of the whole topic. We realize that we need to have a suitable data architecture ready that we can continue to build on. That is sometimes also the challenge: having the technical understanding in the background and raising awareness of the technological importance in the context of data throughout the company.

Because technology and strategy are closely interlinked.

Of course. When people talk about the 360-degree customer at future conferences, for example, it's a great vision. But we first need to be able to use the right data for this, and we may not be that far along yet. We are only relevant on the market with data, that is clear to everyone. We just have to follow this path consistently.

"We are only relevant on the market with data."

What exactly does it mean for you to only be relevant on the market with data?

Data will continue to be a strategic resource in the future and will also be an issue in IT in particular. There will never be a strategy that does not require data and technology. Even for us as a company that makes cuddly toys. Frank Rheinboldt, CEO of Margarete Steiff GmbH, once put it very succinctly in my opinion: You can't cuddle with a cell phone. Sure, people cuddle teddy bears because they have an emotional value. But how do we stay relevant in the long term? How do we reach target groups that are less likely to buy stationary in the future? Through which touchpoints? We need to set priorities in order to become better known and internationalize. We have to ask ourselves: how do we remain sustainable as a company with the knowledge that we can generate simply through data and facts and make decisions based on this?

‍Whatrole will data play at Steiff in the future? Will the teddy bear become more digital?

We have always managed our business in the various divisions with a focus on data and facts. Improvements can only be achieved if the KPIs are measurable. I can only shape and improve what I can measure. So for us, everything initially revolves around the further digitalization of processes. We are also pursuing classic customer approach topics, which should become more target group-oriented and modern. We want to get kids, i.e. young adults between the ages of 15 and 40, even more enthusiastic about our brand. Data helps us to do this.

You just mentioned lighthouse projects, which are important for breaking down the big bang into use cases. When did you realize that you needed a concrete data strategy for this?

Back then, we started with a proof of concept to see whether the cloud provider and its products, in our case Microsoft, would suit us. The range is huge, from Snowflake to AWS and Azure. We had a project team, but didn't yet know what resources we needed to free up. We wanted to find out what a use case really needs. In order to be able to continue sustainably after a pilot, we had to clarify requirements and develop our own best practices. The question was how we could implement such projects with our SME requirements in such a way that we would be able to manage the administration well later on.

"What would the plan look like in the drawer?"

On this basis, you had probably accumulated a lot of topics that you wanted to think about further. What were your expectations of the strategy work?

We were looking for a partner to support us as an extended arm. We wanted to learn hands-on, but also be able to hand over topics completely. It was important for us to know how we could apply the use case of one subsidiary to group-wide projects. What would the plan in the drawer look like that we could pull out to quickly set up the new use case? How do we architecturally develop the construct in the cloud for the second subsidiary? There is no lack of use cases, but rather a lack of structure and prioritization. Within taod's Data Strategy Framework, we discussed all of these points, went into depth and considered how we can position ourselves for the future.

What does this strategy work look like in practice?

We used Miro for the workshop work. I really liked the methodology. In between, there was always theoretical input from taod, which was valuable. We had plenty of time to think about our needs and hone them.

Were there other topics in focus besides architecture and scaling?

We discussed the topic of governance. It was also very important to consider what roles there are in the whole process. What does a data engineer actually do versus a data analyst versus project management? What skills do we need to bring to the table? When someone from the specialist departments approaches us and says: I would like a dashboard from you, a lot of questions arise: which data tables do you have in which source system, which field do you need where and why, and so on. We used taod's Data Use Case Canvas to work out how we work together in the core team and how IT communicates with the specialist departments. That was very valuable.

What does your role look like?

As project manager, I am the point of contact for all use cases that are brought to us. For example, if Controlling wants a new cost center report, we try to collect as much information as possible using the data use case canvas together with the specialist department, we challenge that. We then approach taod, present the use case and get an estimate of the effort involved. Sometimes we also have topics for which there is not yet a golden path. We use workshops for this. In the future, we want to keep learning, especially in terms of technology, and train our colleagues in the specialist departments.

To raise them to a self-service level?

That would be the long-term perspective, but realistically it will certainly take some time. If colleagues are currently building dashboards themselves, there is a review process closely monitored by us.

You can see how important the topic of employee skills and enablement was for you in the strategy project.

The skills of our employees play a very important role, because people make it happen. Strategies alone are paper tigers. What matters is implementation in the allotted time.

How does the strategy work in your everyday life now?

Our way of working and what we had thought about in theory were supported by the strategy we had developed. What's more, the project formalized structures that we now use in our data practice. What also helped us a lot were the recommendations for action. Particularly with regard to architectural issues in the cloud, we found out which adjustments are still important and cost-efficient for us in order to avoid uncontrolled growth and therefore expensive retrofitting. Based on this, we create use cases with the corresponding capacities and know how we need to keep the infrastructure in the cloud.

You sound out the technological components in detail.

Definitely. It was always important to us that we didn't obstruct anything and that we created a good basis for docking. We had already made the decision to use Microsoft Azure. When significant technological innovations, such as Microsoft Fabric, come along, we have a partner at our side who can provide us with strategic and practical advice - even at short notice if necessary."

"But with every use case that we implement and thus relieve someone of work, our strategy will become clearer."

What impact does the strategy have on the entire company?

Of course, it is a hot topic at management level in particular. As it is currently very
technological in nature, it is less relevant for the specialist departments. But with every use case that we implement
and thus relieve someone of work, our strategy will become clearer. This is because the respective department will then positively perceive that it no longer only has to prepare data, but can interpret it directly. They will work proactively, not reactively. The strategy will then become more relevant for everyone.

How did you involve the specialist departments in the strategy project?

We have conducted interviews with managers and recorded their requirements. We track a wide range of different KPIs that we use to run our business. The task here was to work together to find out in detail which data product would really help us to achieve these in the end.

What happened next?

Following the workshop phase, taod drew up a proposal on how we could shape our strategy with our requirements and questions. After a joint deep dive, taod showed us a whole range of options, for all subsidiaries across the Group and with different versions. This support helped us to find the right solution. We were always able to collaborate intensively, there wasn't just a frontal lecture on the topic of strategy.

In the end, we had something in hand and knew how to start when use case X came along. Everything was conceptually planned and could be applied in practice straight away. And: we had the support to abstract everything at management level. That was very helpful.

That makes us happy! How far along are you with your implementation measures?

The measures from the strategy project have all been implemented. We have set up a development environment and are already actively using it. We are already living what we have conceptually considered, and that is of course fun. We also already have new topics, such as the current use case of connecting APIs. We are planning further workshops with taod to further formulate our needs as a medium-sized company. This will get straight down to business.

What do you mean?
The processes are great, we work together very closely and quickly. We quickly clarify questions in between via chat. I can easily fall back on a team in the background at any time, which is great.

Thank you for this beautiful closing, Julia!

This interview first appeared in a similar form in issue 01/24of data! All issues and articles of our biannual magazine can be found here:‍

data! Magazine: Cloud Services, Data Analytics & AI | taod

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