Valipac: transforming circular economy data with VaultSpeed

Valipac is Belgium's central player in the circular economy for industrial and commercial packaging waste, with over 25 years of expertise. They ensure 7,000 companies comply with packaging obligations, work with 220+ operational partners across Europe, and guarantee traceability of 780,000 tons of packaging waste annually. Valipac operates at the critical intersection of industry, environment, and compliance, offering solutions that drive sustainability while navigating complex regulatory landscapes.

As Jo Coutuer, Project Manager for Data and Analytics at Valipac, explains: "We don't wake up to be noble. We exist to solve a legal, operational, and financial necessity. At the core, we are not a waste company. We are a data company." This deep understanding of their data-driven mission underpins Valipac's commitment to precision and innovation.

The challenge: data evolution, spaghetti ETL, and existential deadlines

For over 25 years, Valipac's data infrastructure had evolved organically, reflecting the company's growth and the increasing complexity of circular economy regulations. Their data journey began with simple paper forms, progressing to Access databases, then to Cognos cubes for reporting, and eventually a custom data warehouse. Despite these advancements, the system became increasingly unwieldy. "We accumulated more than 100 star schemas over 25 years. Every new report meant a new star schema," notes Kevin Haleydt, a data architect at Valipac.

The ETL pipelines resembled "spaghetti" – intertwined, difficult to manage, and prone to breaking. Changes were not only time-consuming but also incredibly expensive. "Adding a single country like Luxembourg to our reporting system could cost €200,000," recalls Jo Coutuer. The breaking point arrived with critical changes to their Salesforce CRM, which rendered large parts of their custom data warehouse obsolete. Valipac faced existential deadlines: compliance reports were due by March 2024, and full reporting by September 2024. Without a rapid transformation, they risked severe operational and regulatory consequences. Valipac recognized the urgent need for an agile, scalable data platform to navigate these challenges and secure their future in a rapidly evolving environmental landscape.

The solution: rapid data transformation with VaultSpeed – a strategic partnership

Facing a looming crisis, Valipac’s lean team embarked on an urgent mission to find a solution that could rebuild their data foundation, automate data integration, and ensure timely, accurate reporting. After a thorough evaluation of various data automation tools, they identified VaultSpeed as the ideal partner. The decision was driven by VaultSpeed's ability to automate data warehouse modeling and ETL generation based on Data Vault 2.0 principles. A successful Proof of Concept (POC) in November 2023 quickly demonstrated VaultSpeed's capabilities, leading to full-scale implementation. "The speed with which we could stand up a new data warehouse was incredible," states Jo Coutuer.

Valipac leveraged VaultSpeed's automation capabilities to rebuild their entire data infrastructure. They adopted Data Vault 2.0 as their architectural blueprint for its agility, scalability, and ability to handle diverse data sources while maintaining historical context, crucial for regulatory compliance. VaultSpeed's native support for Data Vault 2.0 automation was a key differentiator, significantly accelerating the modeling and development process. The team began by integrating critical data from their primary systems, and VaultSpeed's automated code generation for ETL processes meant that initial data ingestion and raw data vault layers were up and running in a fraction of the time compared to manual coding. With this foundation, they systematically brought in data from all their sources, standardizing information and creating a single source of truth. The target date for full production and comprehensive reporting was set for September 2024.

Key Performance Improvements: before & after VaultSpeed

The quantitative impact of VaultSpeed's implementation was immediately evident:

Valipac successfully rebuilt 25 years of data warehouse history in just 6-8 months, a feat that would have been impossible with manual methods. Furthermore, change requests, which previously took months and significant budget, now take mere days, allowing Valipac to respond with unprecedented agility to evolving business needs and regulatory changes. This efficiency was achieved with a lean team of only two junior consultants. Finally, their critical daily dashboards are now consistently available by 7:00 AM, with zero failures, ensuring that stakeholders have timely and reliable insights every morning.

Business Impact: accelerated insights & strategic growth for circular economy

The implementation of VaultSpeed brought tangible and quantifiable improvements to Valipac's data operations and overall business outcomes. With their entire data warehouse rebuilt and operational in a fraction of the time, Valipac's leadership gained immediate access to precise, unified data, enabling more proactive and informed decision-making across their circular economy initiatives. This significant reduction in data integration and model change times freed Valipac's lean internal team from repetitive, manual tasks, allowing them to focus on higher-value activities such as expanding waste streams, optimizing recycling processes, and exploring new opportunities for European growth.

By consolidating fragmented data sources into a standardized Data Vault 2.0 architecture, Valipac achieved a single, consistent view of their complex packaging waste data. This newfound data integrity fostered greater trust across departments, eliminating disputes over numbers and enabling collaborative decision-making, especially when answering critical questions about compliance, traceability, and operational efficiency. The robust data foundation now supports their extensive network of 7,000 companies and 220+ operational partners with reliable, up-to-date data. Their ability to deliver accurate and timely compliance reports by the March 2024 deadline, and full reporting by September 2024, was entirely thanks to VaultSpeed. The data team, once bogged down by spaghetti ETL and expensive changes, now drives initiatives that directly impact Valipac's mission to foster a more sustainable circular economy.

"VaultSpeed has been a game-changer for Valipac. We're not an IT company, so our resources are limited. VaultSpeed helps us do more with less. It allowed us to meet our critical deadlines and transform our data capabilities. The speed and efficiency are unparalleled, truly empowering us to focus on our core mission of driving the circular economy."

— Jo Coutuer, Project Manager Data and Analytics, Valipac

"This is what we wanted! Building 25 years of data warehouse in 6-8 months with just two junior consultants means we're ready for anything."

— Kevin Haleydt, Data Architect, Valipac

The Road ahead: continuing the data journey

Valipac's partnership with VaultSpeed has not only solved immediate data challenges but has also laid a robust foundation for future innovation. With a unified, reliable, and agile data platform, Valipac is better equipped than ever to leverage its vast data assets, drive strategic growth in the circular economy, and continue its legacy of environmental excellence in a data-driven world.