PivotTables 2011

Multi-dimensional Reporting
With PivotTables
MOTIVATION
You are a manger of Global
Bike Incorporated and one of
your responsibilities is to
make decisions related to
ordering, promotions,
customer discounts as well as
monitoring and managing the
daily operations of the store.
You have a number of OLTP
systems to assist with the day
to day transactions. Each
month you are provided with a
report which displays each
sale. The format of the report
is illustrated below.
LEARNING METHOD
The learning method used is
guided learning. The benefit
of this method is that
knowledge is imparted
quickly. Students also acquire
practical skills and
competencies. As with an
exercise, this method
explains a process or
procedure in detail.
Exercises at the end enable
students to put their
knowledge into practice.
Although this report provides

a lot of information, the
information is not in a format
which can assist in the type of
decisions you are required to
make. You have decided to
investigate PivotTables as
means to producing more
useful reports
Product
Microsoft Excel 2007/2010
Level
Beginner
Focus
Multi-dimensional Reporting
Author
Paul Hawking
Version 2
Paul Hawking SAP Mentor
June 2011
The primary purpose of an information system is to process information to produce reports to facilitate
decision making. Reports may appear in various formats and used to support a diverse range of
organisational decisions. Reports provide a mechanism for organising, analysing, presenting and
delivering information to end users. A common classification of reports is based on the types of
systems which they are built from. On-Line Transaction Processing (OLTP) systems as the name
suggests are optimised for transaction processing. They process real time information and are
accessed by many users. The reports are derived from the various business transactions and
predominately support tactical decision making.
An alternative information system is On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP). This type of processing
allows users to analyse information by creating multidimensional reports. They deal with large
volumes of aggregated historical data. OLAP based reports are more flexible than the more
traditional reports produced by an OLTP system.
As mentioned previously OLTP reports provide information about particular transactions. The type of
reports an OLTP system produces could include:
Who purchased a particular product?

How much did an employee get paid?
How many of a product was manufactured?
The flexibility of OLAP reporting assists end users in understanding why particular business events
have occurred and or forecast what may occur in the future. The types of questions an OLAP system
can assist with could include:
What are the total sales for each product?

What are the total sales for each department?
Which salesperson has sold the most?
Which products does each salesperson sell the most of?
In which month did most of the sales occur?
OLAP systems and their ability for multi-dimensional reporting are considered an important
component of Business Intelligence. OLTP systems often provide the transactional data which is
used as an input for OLAP systems multi-dimensional reports.
To gain a better understanding of multi-dimensional reporting and related concepts we have created a
number of exercises using Microsoft Excels PivotTable.
June 2011
Pivot Tables
An example of a multidimensional reporting tool is Microsoft Excels PivotTable function. A
PivotTable is a tool which assists users with summarising large amounts of data into useful reports.
The PivotTables flexibility enables you to re-arrange the tables structure (columns and rows) until
you get the required information. The following exercises will highlight the role of PivotTables in multidimensional reporting
1. Save
PivotTable.xlsx to your local drive. Your workshop leader will
provide the files location.
2. Open
the PivotTable.xlsx worksheet.
It should appear similar to the one below:
You will notice that there are more than 7,000 transactions and in their present format it is difficult to
identify trends. Think about how you would determine which Material sold the most and which Sales
Organisation had the the highest sales for this Material.
Microsoft Excel requires you to convert the data to table format before you can apply the PivotTable
features. In Table format you can perform some simple formatting, such as Filtering to improve the
report.
3.
Click
A2 to select a cell within the proposed table.
4.
Click
5.
Select
to display the table formatting options.

one of the formatting options.
A dialog box appears to confirm your table range and header options.
6.
Click
to complete the process.
June 2011
Filtering Data
You are returned to your worksheet and your Table has been formatted as to your selection. But you
will notice that your heading row now includes drop-down arrows.
The drop-down arrows allow you to sort and filter the data in your Table. This can be done
alphabetically, numerically, or aggregated. Currently the data is sorted by Sales Organisation then by
Material. If you want to see all the sales for a Material then it needs to be sorted by Material.
7.
Click
next to Material to display the Sorting dialog box.
The Sorting dialog box is aware that the column selected is text and only displays the options
available to be performed on text.
8.
Click
to sort Material ascending.
You are returned to your worksheet and your data has been sorted. Notice that the drop-down arrow
has changed
, to indicate that the data has been sorted .
You can see the impact of the sorting by using the Undo
Access Toolbar.
9.
Click
to un-sort the data in the Table.
10.
Click
to resort the data in the Table.
and Redo
buttons on the Quick
June 2011
You can also Filter the data based on the datas numerical value. A Filter is different to the Sort
function as only data that meets the Filter criteria will be displayed. While with Sort all data is
displayed. Currently Materials can be sold through two different Distribution Channels, either by the
Internet (IN) or by Wholesale (WH). You could use the Filter function to display all Internet.
11.
Click
next to Distribution Channel to display the Sorting dialog box.
You will notice that currently that all values are selected in the Text Filters area. You only want IN
(Internet) selected.
12.
Click
13.
Click
14.
Click
to de-select all values.

to select this value.
If you scroll through your data you will notice that only Internet sales appear.
Notice that the drop-down arrow has changed
to indicated that a Filter is applied. As mentioned
you can remove a Filter by clicking the Undo button

on the Quick Access Toolbar. You can
also remove it by clicking the drop-down arrow on the field that the Filter has been applied.
16.
Click
to display the dialog box.
Tip If you place your mouse over the Filter icon the current Filter criteria will be displayed
17.
Click
to remove the Filter.
All the data appears on screen. You can also apply Filters to numbers. For example you want to
only display sold Quantities greater than 90.
18.
Click
19.
Click
next to Quantity to display the Sorting dialog box.
to display the numerical filters.
The sub-menu gives you an indication as to the type of numerical filters that can be applied to your
data. Some of the filters require you to enter the values that the data will be filtered on.
20.
Click
to create a Filter on Quantity Greater Than 90.
June 2011
A dialog box appears:
21.
Type
90 in the text box.
Other than typing the value in the text box, you could have clicked the drop-down arrow
the values from your Table.
22.
Click
to display
Your screen should appear as follows:
Notice that the drop-down arrow has changed
to indicated that a Filter is applied. As mentioned
you can remove a Filter by clicking the Undo button

on the Quick Access Toolbar. You can
also remove it by clicking the drop-down arrow on the field that the Filter has been applied.
23.
Click
to remove the Filter.
All the data appears on screen.

Try and answer the following questions from the data.
Which Material sold the most in terms of Quantity?
How many 7 Gear bikes were sold in June 2007?
June 2011
Creating a PivotTable
Previously you formatted your data as a Table. By applying this format to the data you are provided
with extra functionality through the Table Design Ribbon.
24. Click
To create a PivotTable:
24.
tab to display the Table Design Ribbon.
Click
in the Tools Group.
A dialog box appears to confirm the selection for the PivotTable. You will notice that there is a
flashing border around your Table.
26.
Click
A new worksheet appears on screen. On the right of the screen is a PivotTable Design Area. Also a
PivotTable Ribbon appears across the top of the screen.
The PivotTable Design Area lists all the column headings (fields) of your Table.
The bottom area allows you to drag the column headings to design your new PivotTable.
June 2011
To understand PivotTables better you are now going to create a PivotTable that indicates the Total
sales Quantity for each Sales Organisation
27. Click
next to the Sales Organisation field in the PivotTable Filed List to select it.
Notice that Sales Organisation appears in the Row Labels design area.
Notice that the Sales Organisations appear on the worksheet.
You now want to include the total Quantity for each Sales Organisation.
28.
Click
next to Quantity to select this field.
Notice that the field appears on the worksheet and is automatically placed in the
area.
Excel has determined that this field is numerical and is suggesting that that it should be aggregated
by summing the values. Important numerical values that form the basis of analysis in multidimensional reports are often referred to as key figures, measures, or facts.
June 2011
Your worksheet now lists all the orders and their total sales revenue.
However you would like to see Quantity for each Material.

29.
Click
next to Material to select this field.
The Material field appears in the Row Labels design area and the Materials are listed with each
Sales Organisation.
This is an example of multi-dimensional reporting using the Sales Organisation, Material and
Qunatity dimensions. The next exercise will further demonstrate the flexibility of this type of
reporting.
This has been helpful in terms of the sales Quantity for each Sales Organisation and Materials within
this organisation. But maybe a more valuable report would be which Materials sold the most
Quantity in which Sales Organisations. In other words we want to change how the data is grouped.
30.
Click
31.
Click
next to Material in the Row Labels area to display the context menu.
Move Up to select this command.
The Material field now appears above the Sales Organisation field. Notice how this impacts on your
report.
June 2011
The Quantity total for each Sales Organisation is grouped under each Material and a grand total
(190936) of all Materials has been calculated at the bottom of the pivottable. Maybe to help you
better make decisions you would like see the total Quantity for each Material that has been sold.
Each Material is listed with it Total sales Quantity.
Reports should include a time dimension to indicate the period when the transactions occurred. The
report currently provides you with sales Quantity you dont know over what duration this occurred.
This can be quickly remedied by adding the Month/Year dimension.
33.
Click
next to Month/Year to select this field and add it to your report.
How many 7 Gear bikes were sold in June 2007?

You now have a report that lists the sales Quantity for each Month/Year for each Material. Think
how difficult it was to determine was to answer the questions previously when not using a PivotTable.
10
June 2011
Navigating Multidimensional Reports

You have had a quick demonstration of the flexibility of multi-dimensional reporting using PivotTables.
There are a number of common terms used in Business Intelligence which describe how you navigate
in this type of reporting. Firstly you need to add another dimension.
34.
Click
next to Sales Organisation to select this field and add it to the PivotTable.
Drill-Up
This is where the user moves through the dimensions from a detailed view to a more summarised
view (less detail). For example:
35.
Click
next to order Jan-06 belonging to 7 Gear.
The details of the Sales Organisations for the Material (7 Gear) are no longer displayed. However
the total sales Quantity is still visible. Notice that has changed to
indicating that there is further
data which can be displayed.
36.
Practice Drill-Up on different Materials and Month/Year.
Drill-Down
This is the opposite of Drill-Up. A user can navigate through the dimensions to display more detailed
data.
37. Click
next to order Jan-06 belonging to 7 Gear.
The detail for each Sales Organisation for that Material appears.
38.
Practice Drill-Down on different Materials and Month/Years.
Note: You can Drill-Up or Down-Down by double-clicking the relevant dimension.

A common dimension used for Drilling-Up and Drilling-Down is Time. For example if the data
included the years sales then you could navigate by Year, Quarter Month, Week, and or Day. Most
multi-dimensional reports have a Time component. The level of detail which is displayed is referred
to as granularity.
Drill-Through
This describes the navigation from the aggregated multi-dimensional report data back to the
underlying transaction data for the selected item.
Slice and Dice
This refers to navigation whereby the user views the data from different business points of view
(dimensions). For example the diagram below illustrates Slice and Dice navigation.
A multi-dimensional structure has been designed to enable a user to report on Material sales by
Distribution Channel and Sales Organisation. This would display all records.
11
June 2011
It is possible to navigate through the structure to view a subset of the data. For example a report
which displays all sales for a particular Material in all Sales Organisations and Distribution
Channels.
Alternatively a user could Slice the data to view all Materials sold via all Distribution Channels for a
particular Sales Organisation.
Through Dicing more granularity can be achieved. For example:
12
June 2011
You will now create another PivotTable to see Slice and Dice in action. Firstly you need to remove
the current PivotTable.
39.
De-select
of the selected fields in the design area to remove the PivotTable.
40.
Click
next to Material, Distribution Channel, Sales Organisation, and Quantity to
select these fields .
Your PivotTable should appear similar to the one below.
Currently all records are displayed. To limit the view to a particular Material (Cruze Bike):
41. Click
next to Row Labels in to display a context menu.
42.
Click
next to (Select All) to de-select the current selections.
43.
Click
next to Cruze Bike to select this Material.
44.
Click
13
June 2011
Your PivotTable has now been Sliced to only display the results for the Cruze Bike Material. You can
further Slice the data to show only the sales Quantity for a particular Distribution Channel (Wholesale)
in a Sales Organisation (Sydney).
45.
Right-Click
46.
Click
WH to display the context menu.
Filter then Keep Only Selected Items to filter on this Distribution Channel.
Your PivotTable has been adjusted accordingly. Notice that the design area indicates that Filters
have been applied to Material and Distribution Channel.
To remove these Filters:
47.
Click
menu.
next to Distribution Channel in the PivotTable Field List to display the context
48.
Click
next to (Select All) to display all Distribution Channels.
49.
Click
50.
Click
next to Material in the Design Area to display the context menu.
51.
Click
next to (Select All) to display all Materials.
52.
Click
to complete the process
to complete the process
You have now completed the tutorial on PivotTables. PivotTables can be a very powerful tool which
provides an extensive range of functionality. The previous exercises were designed to introduce you
to the concept of multi-dimensional reporting and its associated terminology. You should now be
aware of what advantages it provides compared to the more traditional OLTP reporting. However
there are some shortcomings especially handling large data volumes (million records). When the data
comes from different systems and is in different formats there is a lot of work required before it can be
manipulated in a PivotTable. You may have noticed with the original data that sales revenue was
included. However these figures were in different currencies which made calculations and
comparisons difficult. A data warehouse overcomes many of these issues.
14
June 2011
Following are some develop your skills exercises for you to assess your understanding of multidimensional reporting and PivotTables. Create reports to answer the following questions.
a)
Which material provided the most revenue in Sydney?
b)
What is the total sales revenue for Germany?
c)
What is the total wholesale quantity?
15
June 2011

PivotTables 2011

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Multi-dimensional Reporting

Although this report provides

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

Who purchased a particular product?

What are the total sales for each product?

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

the PivotTable.xlsx worksheet.

It should appear similar to the one below:

to display the table formatting options.

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

to complete the process.

next to Material to display the Sorting dialog box.

to un-sort the data in the Table.

to resort the data in the Table.

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

buttons on the Quick

next to Distribution Channel to display the Sorting dialog box.

to de-select all values.

to indicated that a Filter is applied. As mentioned

you can remove a Filter by clicking the Undo button

to display the dialog box.

to remove the Filter.

next to Quantity to display the Sorting dialog box.

to display the numerical filters.

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

to create a Filter on Quantity Greater Than 90.

A dialog box appears:

90 in the text box.

to complete the process.

Your screen should appear as follows:

Notice that the drop-down arrow has changed

to indicated that a Filter is applied. As mentioned

you can remove a Filter by clicking the Undo button

to remove the Filter.

All the data appears on screen.

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

tab to display the Table Design Ribbon.

in the Tools Group.

to complete the process.

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

Notice that the Sales Organisations appear on the worksheet.

next to Quantity to select this field.

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

However you would like to see Quantity for each Material.

next to Material to select this field.

Move Up to select this command.

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

next to Month/Year to select this field and add it to your report.

How many 7 Gear bikes were sold in June 2007?

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

Navigating Multidimensional Reports

next to order Jan-06 belonging to 7 Gear.

Practice Drill-Up on different Materials and Month/Year.

Practice Drill-Down on different Materials and Month/Years.

Note: You can Drill-Up or Down-Down by double-clicking the relevant dimension.

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

of the selected fields in the design area to remove the PivotTable.

Your PivotTable should appear similar to the one below.

next to (Select All) to de-select the current selections.

next to Cruze Bike to select this Material.

Paul Hawking SAP Mentor

to complete the process.