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BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE FOR MANUFACTURERS

Turn ERP Data Into Information Your Team Can Actually Use.

Manufacturers generate a large amount of data every day.

Book an ERP Strategy Call Discuss My Reporting Challenges
Executive dashboardsKPIs and measuresWhat needs attention
What changed?
Sales.Cost.
Better decisionsOperational and financial information
Insight
Production.
KPIs
  • Sales.
  • Purchasing.
  • Inventory.
  • Production.
  • Quality.
  • Cost.
  • Finance.

But having data does not automatically mean leadership has visibility.

When teams depend on spreadsheets, manually prepared reports, inconsistent KPIs, or disconnected systems, answers take too long.

Driscoll Associates helps manufacturers improve the reporting, data, ERP configuration, integrations, dashboards, and business intelligence needed to make operational and financial information easier to understand.

The goal is not more reports.

The goal is better decisions with less time spent rebuilding the answer.

Does This Sound Familiar?

“We Have the Data. We Still Wait for Answers.”

Common reporting problems include:

When reporting is difficult, decision-making becomes slower.

And the business starts relying on individual people to explain what happened.

What Business Intelligence Should Do

BI Should Help Answer Business Questions.

Useful business intelligence should help teams understand:

  1. 01

    WHAT HAPPENED?

    What changed?

  2. 02

    WHERE?

    Which product, customer, supplier, plant, department, or job?

  3. 03

    WHY?

    What operational activity created the result?

  4. 04

    WHAT NEEDS ATTENTION?

    Which exceptions matter most?

  5. 05

    WHAT SHOULD WE DO NEXT?

    Where should the team investigate or act?

Business intelligence should create context—not just charts.

From ERP Transactions to Decisions

Data Has to Move Through Several Layers Before It Becomes Useful.

  1. TRANSACTIONS

    OrdersReceiptsProductionInventory movementsLaborCosts

  2. DATA

    ERP and connected systems

  3. METRICS

    KPIs and measures

  4. CONTEXT

    Why performance changed

  5. INSIGHT

    What needs attention

  6. ACTION

    What the business should investigate or improve

The dashboard is only one part of that process.

Common Root Causes

Reporting Problems Are Not Always Reporting Problems.

The underlying issue may be:

  • DATA QUALITY

    Missing fieldsInconsistent master dataIncorrect transactions

  • KPI DEFINITIONS

    Different departments define the same metric differently.

  • ERP CONFIGURATION

    Important data is not captured in the right place.

  • PROCESS

    Transactions happen late or outside the ERP.

  • INTEGRATION

    Relevant information sits in separate systems.

  • REPORT DESIGN

    Reports show too much data and not enough context.

  • OWNERSHIP

    Nobody is responsible for maintaining KPI definitions or data quality.

The first task is to understand why the business does not trust or use the current information.

How Driscoll Approaches Business Intelligence

Start With the Decisions the Business Needs to Make.

Driscoll may review:

  • Existing ERP reports
  • Spreadsheets
  • KPIs
  • Management reporting
  • Operational dashboards
  • Financial reporting
  • Data sources
  • Integrations
  • Master data
  • Transaction timing
  • User requirements
  • Reporting frequency
  • Exception management

The objective is to understand:

  1. 1Which questions are difficult to answer?
  2. 2Which reports are manually rebuilt?
  3. 3Which KPIs are disputed?
  4. 4Which data sources are disconnected?
  5. 5What does leadership actually need to see?

Business Intelligence Assessment

Understand the Reporting Gap Before Building Another Dashboard.

Depending on the engagement, an assessment may review:

  1. 01

    BUSINESS QUESTIONS

    What decisions should the reporting support?

  2. 02

    KPIs

    Are definitions clear and consistent?

  3. 03

    DATA SOURCES

    Where does the information come from?

  4. 04

    DATA QUALITY

    Can the underlying data be trusted?

  5. 05

    REPORTING PROCESS

    How much manual effort is required today?

  6. 06

    USER NEEDS

    Who needs what level of detail?

  7. 07

    TIMING

    How quickly does the information need to be available?

Potential Deliverables May Include:
  • Current-state reporting findings
  • KPI recommendations
  • Data-source map
  • Reporting-gap analysis
  • Dashboard recommendations
  • Integration requirements
  • Data-quality priorities
  • Prioritized next steps

Deliverables depend on agreed scope.

Executive Dashboards

Leadership Needs a Clear View of What Requires Attention.

The objective is not to fit every metric on one screen. It is to make the most important signals visible.

Executive dashboards may focus on areas such as:
  • Revenue
  • Margin
  • Backlog
  • Inventory
  • Working capital
  • On-time delivery
  • Production performance
  • Supplier performance
  • Cost variance
  • Operational exceptions

Operational Dashboards

Every Team Needs Different Information.

PRODUCTION

    BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE SHOULD SUPPORT THE ROLE—NOT FORCE EVERYONE INTO THE SAME VIEW.

    KPI Design

    A KPI Should Help Someone Make a Decision.

    Useful KPIs are:

    • Relevant

    • Defined consistently

    • Understandable

    • Actionable

    • Timely

    • Owned

    A KPI should answer:

    1. 1Why are we measuring this?
    2. 2Who owns it?
    3. 3What does good performance look like?
    4. 4What happens when it moves in the wrong direction?

    More KPIs do not automatically create more visibility.

    One Version of the Truth

    Different Numbers Create Different Decisions.

    If Sales reports one backlog number, Operations another, and Finance a third, the problem is not the dashboard.

    The problem is the definition.

    Business intelligence work may involve aligning:

    • KPI definitions
    • Data sources
    • Filters
    • Timing
    • Ownership
    • Business rules
    The goal:

    One agreed definition for each important measure.

    Exception-Based Management

    Don't Make Managers Review Everything.

    A useful BI environment should help surface the exception.

    Examples:
    • Production orders at risk
    • Material shortages
    • Late suppliers
    • Margin variance
    • Inventory growth
    • Customer-delivery risk
    • Quality issues

    Drill-Down Analysis

    A KPI Should Lead to the Cause.

    Example:

      • Material variance?
      • Labor variance?
      • Scrap?
      • Purchase price?

    A useful BI environment helps teams move from summary to detail without manually rebuilding the analysis.

    Financial + Operational Intelligence

    Financial Results Need Operational Context.

    A margin change may be caused by:

    • Material price
    • Material usage
    • Labor
    • Scrap
    • Production delay
    • Freight
    • Supplier performance
    • Customer mix

    Connecting financial and operational information can help leadership understand not only what changed—but why.

    Manufacturing Business Intelligence

    Manufacturing Creates a Different Reporting Challenge.

    Manufacturers may need to connect:

    DEMAND

    What customers need.

    Business intelligence helps connect those areas into a more complete view of performance.

    ERP Reporting

    Sometimes the Best Answer Is Already Inside the ERP.

    Before adding new technology, Driscoll may evaluate:

    • Standard ERP reports
    • Existing dashboards
    • Query tools
    • Report configuration
    • User access
    • Data structures

    The right solution may be:

    • Better use of standard reporting.
    • Configuration.
    • Custom reporting.
    • External BI.
    • Or a combination.

    Start with the business requirement—not the reporting tool.

    Data Integration

    Business Intelligence Often Requires More Than One System.

    Relevant information may exist across:

    • ERP
    • CRM
    • eCommerce
    • Shipping
    • Warehouse systems
    • Financial systems
    • Production systems
    • Spreadsheets

    Driscoll may help define how those sources should connect so reporting does not depend on repeated manual exports.

    Reporting Automation

    Stop Rebuilding the Same Report Every Week.

    Where appropriate, automation may help with:

    1. Scheduled reports
    2. Exception alerts
    3. KPI distribution
    4. Management summaries
    5. Data refreshes
    6. Report delivery

    The goal is to reduce repetitive reporting work.

    Not automate bad data.

    BI + Inventory Visibility

    Inventory Reporting Should Explain More Than Quantity.

    Business intelligence can help connect inventory with:

    • Demand
    • Purchasing
    • Production
    • Supplier performance
    • Cost
    • Customer commitments

    Example:

    1. Inventory Increased
    2. Which items?
    3. Why?
      • Demand change?
      • Purchasing?
      • Production delay?
      • Customer cancellation?
    Explore Inventory Visibility

    BI + Production Planning

    Production Performance Needs Context.

    But the real value comes from understanding why performance changed.

    Explore Production Planning
    A production dashboard may show:
    • Late jobs
    • Schedule adherence
    • Capacity
    • WIP
    • Material shortages
    • Planned vs. actual time

    BI + Schedule & Cost Accuracy

    Turn Variance Into Explanation.

    Business intelligence can help connect:

    1. Routing performance
    2. Labor variance
    3. Material usage
    4. Job cost
    5. Margin

    The question becomes:

    “Where did the variance come from?”

    rather than:

    “Why is the number different?”

    Explore Schedule & Cost Accuracy

    BI + AI

    AI Can Make Business Data Easier to Interact With.

    Once data and KPI definitions are reliable, AI may support:

    • Natural-language queries
    • Management summaries
    • Exception prioritization
    • Trend summaries
    • Variance explanations
    Example Questions:

    AI can make information easier to access.

    It still depends on reliable data and definitions.

    What Driscoll May Implement

    The Solution Depends on the Reporting Problem.

    Depending on the engagement, work may include:

    Not every engagement requires every component.

    Client Deliverables

    What Might a BI Engagement Produce?

    Depending on scope:

    1. 01Reporting assessment
    2. 02KPI framework
    3. 03Data-source map
    4. 04Dashboard requirements
    5. 05Report specifications
    6. 06Integration requirements
    7. 07Data-quality priorities
    8. 08Role-based reporting design
    9. 09Reporting governance recommendations
    10. 10Implementation roadmap
    11. 11Training recommendations

    Deliverables are agreed before work begins.

    Common Business Intelligence KPIs

    Which Measures Matter?

    Relevant KPIs may include:

    INVENTORY

    • Inventory accuracy
    • Inventory turns
    • Shortages
    • Excess inventory

    PRODUCTION

    • Schedule adherence
    • Throughput
    • WIP
    • On-time completion

    SUPPLY CHAIN

    • Supplier on-time delivery
    • Lead-time variance
    • Late purchase orders

    COST

    • Job-cost variance
    • Material variance
    • Labor variance
    • Margin

    CUSTOMER

    • Backlog
    • On-time delivery
    • Order performance

    The right KPI set depends on the business question.

    Common Questions

    Business intelligence in manufacturing is the process of turning ERP and operational data into dashboards, KPIs, reports, and analysis that help teams understand performance and make better decisions.

    How Business Intelligence Connects to Other Solutions

    BI Brings the Operational Story Together.

    Engagement Starting Point

    Start With the Question You Cannot Answer Easily Today.

    You do not need to know whether the solution is:

    • A dashboard.
    • An ERP report.
    • A data cleanup effort.
    • An integration.
    • A KPI-definition problem.
    • Or a larger BI platform.

    Start with the questions your team struggles to answer.

    Driscoll can help identify the appropriate next engagement.

    Detailed assessments, implementation, integrations, dashboards, and reporting work are separately scoped.

    Book an ERP Strategy Call

    YOUR BUSINESS ALREADY GENERATES THE DATA.

    Make It Easier to Understand What the Data Is Telling You.

    If leadership waits too long for reports, departments disagree on KPIs, operational and financial information are disconnected, or teams spend too much time rebuilding reports—

    Driscoll Associates can help identify where the reporting process is breaking down and define a practical path toward better visibility.

    Better business intelligence starts with the right question, reliable data, and clear definitions.

    Book an ERP Strategy Call Explore AI & Automation