How do we move from registers to a dashboard?
Move in four steps: fix what is entered and by whom, keep only a few entry sheets, let formulas build the reports, and show the results in a dashboard that nobody edits. Do the data first and the dashboard after. A dashboard on weak data only shows wrong figures in a nicer way.
Most plants start with paper registers, then move to Excel. Over time the number of files grows. The same order appears in five places, spelled five ways. Totals do not match. The owner does not trust the figures, so he asks for them by phone.
Then someone says, "We need a dashboard." That is a good wish, but it comes too early if the data is not ready.
What is the difference between a register and a dashboard?
A register is a list that people add to. A dashboard is a view that people read. In between sits the analysis.
| Layer | Who touches it | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Entry sheet | People who do the work | Order punching, daily production |
| Calculation | Formulas, nobody edits | Pending quantity, ageing, rejection % |
| Dashboard | Managers read, never edit | Pending orders, plan vs actual, outstanding |
The most useful pattern is simple: people type data into a small number of entry sheets. Everything else is calculated and shown in a dashboard.
Why does data entry fail?
Before you build, know the common failures. They repeat in many plants:
- The same work order is typed in different ways (WO64, WO 064, W064).
- The customer or item name is spelled in many ways.
- Text is typed into number cells, or a date is saved as text.
- Someone types over a formula.
- Dispatch is entered twice, or under the wrong order.
- A person renames a column and the report breaks.
Each has a fix: a master list with dropdowns, locked formulas, a check sheet that shows errors in plain words, and one owner for each entry sheet. Fix the input, not the output.
Never build a dashboard on data you do not trust. Fix the entry, and the dashboard becomes easy.
What is the practical path?
Step 1: List your registers and reports
Write down every register and every report in use. For each, ask three questions: who fills it, who reads it, and what decision does it help? Some will be needed. Some can be dropped.
Step 2: Choose one home for every fact
An order should be written in one place, and used from there. This stops the "five copies" problem. Process first, tool second: choose the tool after you know the process.
Step 3: Keep few entry sheets
Reduce the sheets that staff fill to the minimum. Give each one a clear instruction page and a worked example. Use dropdowns for names.
Step 4: Build a checks view
Add a simple sheet that shows what is wrong, where and what to do. For example: "Row 42: dispatch is more than order quantity." A non-technical person should understand it.
Step 5: Build the dashboard
Start with the three or four numbers your review meeting uses. Add filters for month, customer and machine only when they are needed. Allow a click on any total to see the rows behind it. This is how managers learn to trust it.
Step 6: Hold a review meeting on it
A dashboard that is not discussed in a meeting is a poster. Use it in the daily, weekly and monthly meetings. This is Report-Review-Action.
How to start in your plant
- Pick one report that causes the most chasing, for example pending orders.
- Find out where the data is created and who types it.
- Clean the names: one list of customers, one list of items.
- Make one entry sheet with dropdowns, and train the person who fills it.
- Run it in parallel with the old register for a month.
- Build the one-page view. Use it in the next review.
How long should the old register run in parallel?
For about a month, or until the figures from the new sheet and the old register match for two cycles. Do not stop the old one on day one. Compare the two every week, and note each difference with its reason. These differences teach you where the old way was wrong, and they win the trust of the people who must use the new sheet every day.
Key points
- A dashboard is only as good as the data behind it.
- Keep a few entry sheets, let formulas do the rest, and let managers only read the dashboard.
- The usual failures are different spellings, typed-over formulas and late entry. Fix them with lists, locks and a checks view.
- Start with one report that causes the most chasing.
- A dashboard works only when a meeting uses it.
