Building a Real-Time Operations Dashboard

Global Logistics operated across 12 regions, each with their own reporting spreadsheets, formats, and update schedules. Leadership spent the first week of every month just trying to compile a coherent picture of operations. By the time reports were ready, the data was already stale. Decisions were made on gut feel rather than current information. Regional managers spent hours on reporting instead of managing.

We began by mapping all existing data sources—15 spreadsheets, 3 legacy systems, and 2 cloud applications. We identified the key metrics that actually drove decisions versus the "nice to have" data that cluttered existing reports. Working closely with regional managers and executives, we designed a dashboard hierarchy: executive overview, regional deep-dives, and operational details. Each level answered different questions at different frequencies.

We built a Power BI solution that: • Automatically pulls data from all 15 sources via scheduled refreshes • Provides real-time visibility with data no more than 4 hours old • Offers drill-down from company-wide KPIs to individual shipment details • Includes anomaly detection that flags issues before they become problems • Works on desktop and mobile for on-the-go access • Features role-based views so each user sees relevant information We also created a data dictionary and trained the team on self-service analytics.