Automotive · Data Engineering · Analytics · USA
Unified Data Lake and Automated Analytics Platform for Suntrup Automotive Group
Suntrup Automotive had the data. It was just trapped in a dozen systems that couldn't talk to each other. [x]cube LABS built the data lake that brought it all together — and then built the analytics and payroll automation on top of it.
The Challenge
First-Party Data Everywhere. Insight Nowhere.
Suntrup Automotive uses a range of software tools to run their business: dealer management systems (DMS), customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, inventory tools, and brand-specific operational applications. None of these systems communicated with each other. The data existed — transaction records, customer histories, inventory levels, salesperson performance — but it was fragmented across siloed systems with no way to aggregate or analyze it in real time.
The practical consequences were significant. Enterprise reporting required manual data exports and consolidation — a slow, error-prone process. Paycheck calculations for sales staff were done manually, with different commission structures for each brand adding further complexity. The group's leadership had no real-time view of business performance across their portfolio.
When you run five dealerships and can't see them all in one place, you are not running a business. You are running five separate problems.
The Solution
A Unified Data Lake Feeding Real-Time Analytics and Automated Payroll
The [x]cube LABS team built a unified data lake using ETL and ELT pipelines that consolidate data from all of Suntrup's operational systems — DMS, CRM, and others — into a single, centralized data store. Once unified, the data feeds two primary applications: a real-time analytics dashboard that gives the leadership team a live view of business performance across all brands and locations, and an automated paycheck calculator that applies each brand's specific commission rules to compute accurate salesperson paychecks.
The analytics dashboard is built in React, providing an intuitive, customizable interface for monitoring key metrics (revenue, units sold, leads, customer activity) across the entire dealer group. The paycheck calculator reads directly from the data lake, pulling deal data automatically and applying predefined pay plan rules to generate accurate paycheck summaries without manual calculation.
Unified Data Lake
ETL and ELT pipelines consolidate data from all dealer management, CRM, and operational systems into a single, centralized data store accessible for analytics and automation.
Real-Time Analytics Dashboard
A React-based dashboard providing the Suntrup leadership team with live visibility into revenue, unit sales, leads, and customer activity across all brands and locations.
Automated Paycheck Calculator
A payroll automation tool that reads deal data directly from the data lake and applies brand-specific commission rules to compute accurate salesperson paychecks automatically.
Multi-Brand Commission Logic
Commission structures for each Suntrup brand — Nissan, Volkswagen, Kia, Hyundai, BMW — are encoded into the paycheck calculator, handling the full complexity of the group's pay plans.
Paycheck Summary Reporting
Automated paycheck summaries are generated for each salesperson, providing a clear, auditable breakdown of earnings by deal, commission type, and pay period.
The Outcome
One View Across Five Dealerships. Zero Manual Payroll.
The data lake and its downstream applications transformed how Suntrup's leadership team managed the business. For the first time, they had a real-time, cross-brand view of performance. The payroll automation that had previously consumed hours of manual calculation per pay period was fully automated, eliminating errors and freeing managers to focus on the work that required their judgment.
Real-Time Business Intelligence
Leadership gained a live, cross-brand view of business performance, turning fragmented data from five dealerships into a single, actionable dashboard.
Fully Automated Payroll
Manual paycheck calculation across multiple brands with varying commission structures was fully automated, eliminating errors and the time cost of manual processing.
Unified First-Party Data
All dealer management, CRM, and operational data was consolidated into a single data lake, making the group's data asset usable for the first time.
Faster Reporting
Reports that previously required manual data extraction and consolidation are now generated automatically from the data lake in real time.
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