MCA Connect and Microsoft Fabric enable intelligent transformation at Campbell Scientific

Campbell Scientific is a leading designer and manufacturer of data loggers, data acquisition systems, and measurement and control products used worldwide in a variety of applications related to weather, water, energy, gas flux and turbulence, infrastructure, and soil. 

Campbell Scientific faced a common challenge: their internal data operations were slow, fragmented, and heavily manual. Before adopting Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Fabric, much of their data analysis was performed using downloaded spreadsheets and SQL queries. It could take one to two weeks just to generate standard financial reports.

Choosing the right partner with MCA Connect

MCA Connect, a Microsoft Solutions Partner with deep roots in manufacturing and distribution, helps customers unlock the full value of their data by combining industry expertise with the power of Microsoft’s modern cloud technologies. MCA Connect leverages Microsoft Fabric to simplify data integration, reduce costs, and accelerate AI adoption. 

MCA Connect develops and delivers a modern analytics platform specifically designed for the manufacturing and distribution sector called Inspire Platform™, which is built on Microsoft Fabric and provides self-service business intelligence enabling companies to unlock the value of their data into real-time pipelines. These pipelines feed directly into user-friendly data models that support self-service business intelligence with 50+ pre-built dashboards. The goal is to give every part of the organization, from the shop floor to the executive suite, tools to access, interpret, and act on data without needing to write code or navigate complex systems. Once data is in a clean, usable form, it also becomes the foundation for AI and machine learning efforts such as demand forecasting and process optimization.

MCA Connect is a dedicated Microsoft partner, delivering all its services exclusively on the Microsoft stack. The relationship is more than just alignment on tools, it’s a strategic partnership built on collaboration, shared vision, and joint innovation. “We are a 100% pure play for Microsoft. That's the only stack that our solutions are on. And we know that we picked a winner there,” said MCA Connect Data & AI Services VP James Roberts.

Transforming Cambell Scientific with Microsoft Fabric

MCA Connect partnered with Campbell Scientific to modernize their data environment, automate critical reporting processes, and lay the groundwork for intelligent, data-driven operations to drive their mission to meet the evolving instrumentation needs of their customers—especially those driving breakthroughs in science and technology that advance the greater good of humanity.

Through their collaboration with MCA Connect, Campbell Scientific underwent a major transformation. The team built a fully autonomous pipeline that ingests only new data, based on time stamps, and updates the reporting lakehouse efficiently. This data now flows into dynamic reports that are refreshed multiple times per day with the click of a button. What once required days of manual effort now happens automatically.

“I can make bookings or revenue reports that are automatically updated through at this point three times a day at a click of a button,” explained Keith Anderson, Campbell Scientific IT Business Systems Analyst.

The result is not only time saved but real business impact. Team members who used to spend hours validating and reshaping spreadsheets are now freed up to focus on higher-value work like strategic planning, thought leadership, innovation, cross-functional collaboration, and driving data-informed decision-making. With help from MCA Connect, Campbell Scientific also built reporting models tailored to their internal processes, enabling smarter business decisions and supporting process improvements across departments.

“MCA Connect helped us get across the finish line into launch and supported the backend data work that now informs how our business processes run,” said Anderson.

This transformation didn’t just improve reporting efficiency, it saved money, increased data accuracy, and allowed Campbell Scientific to reinvest time and resources into strategic initiatives that will help positively impact their business and the world around them. One of the largest benefits Fabric gave Campbell Scientific was the ability to continue utilizing legacy production systems. Similarly, Fabric provided access to the cloud-based Dynamics 365 data, allowing the company to continue utilizing the automations that had been built around old ERP systems. Fabric also allowed Campbell Scientific to standardize reporting, moving away from using .csv exports of data from the old system, helping to access data using Power BI. Lastly, utilization of Fabric Spark to replace old data flows helped to reduce Fabric Capacity consumption by at least 50%, helping to boost efficiencies.

Building on the Microsoft-MCA Connect partnership

MCA Connect’s industry expertise and Microsoft-first approach helped Campbell Scientific modernize operations with Microsoft Fabric, replacing manual processes with intelligent, automated workflows. The partnership delivered measurable impact and laid the groundwork for AI-driven innovation.

Building on this success, MCA Connect and Microsoft are well-positioned to expand their collaboration, scaling Fabric solutions across industries, co-developing tailored offerings, and accelerating adoption of next-generation AI capabilities.

“Fabric is a game changer. The fact that we don't have to spend so much time coming up with solutions around how to bring data together, and how to integrate different systems from one another where the data can live, where it lives, or with our partners—it solves a lot of challenges for us and our customers,” said Roberts.

Learn more about Campbell Scientific on LinkedIn and MCA Connect on Facebook and LinkedIn.