Unlocking Operational Clarity and Accountability in a Lighting Solutions Company
Situation
The client is a lighting solutions company serving electrical contractors and development firms in the multi-family real estate asset class. The client desired to have a unified KPI dashboard in its ERP to help cure its struggles with accountability and unclear visibility into its operations. The client lamented its ERP, but hadn’t taken the time to learn its capabilities to give them what they needed.
Approach
Leaning into our fail forward core value, we immediately got our hands dirty researching how to create KPI widgets in a unified dashboard in the client’s ERP system. We began by assessing the ERP’s native dashboard and reporting capabilities, identifying how existing data could be structured to support real-time decision-making. Rather than defaulting to external tools, we built a prototype dashboard environment within the ERP, designing KPI widgets aligned to the company’s strategic priorities.
Now that we had addressed the “how-to”, we then pivoted to partnering with the business owner and the director of operations to determine the KPIs we wanted to capture in this dashboard. We honed in on KPIs related to sales, project management, purchasing, accounting & cash flow, warehouse operations and inventory. Each KPI was intentionally tied to ownership, creating a direct link between data, accountability, and performance.
Results
- A unified KPI dashboard covering all facets of the business
- A fact-based accountability tool to drive positive outcomes and ownership in each department
- Clear visibility into the client’s operations and health
- Proactive operational management from Leadership versus reactive decision-making
- Deeper understanding of the client’s ERP advancing the clients capabilities
The client is now well-positioned to keep its finger on the pulse of the business and spend more time driving outcomes versus lamenting its people and ERP.
