- Traditional reporting tools can be inefficient.
- Purpose-built analytics platforms are quick, easy-to-use.
- Manufacturers no longer need to rely on a decision-making guessing game.
- Use the best manufacturing reportings tools to make data-driven decisions that can impact the direction of the company positively.
What Tools Do Manufacturers Use for Reporting?
There are many reporting tools used by manufacturers, but not all are created equal.
Excel and whiteboards, commonly known as communication boards, are the traditional methods of manufacturing reporting tools. An ERP system (learn more about manufacturing software here!), business intelligence tools, and manufacturing analytics platforms are technologically savvy tools that can automate reporting and make the process more efficient.
What are the Best Tools for Generating Manufacturing Reports?
Shameless plug, but purpose-built analytics tools like Mingo are best. No, we aren’t just saying that. With a tool specifically designed to generate manufacturing reports, you can observe data in real-time and make decisions based upon that data, specifically regarding the productivity of your manufacturing operations.
Mingo reduces the amount of work needed to convert data gathered via traditional means to a form that is usable. Without a purpose-built analytics platform, usability is difficult and puzzling, but with the implementation of one, you no longer must figure out the hard part of getting the data and converting it to a format that can be used.
What Reports Do Manufacturers Need?
This goes without saying, but manufacturers need the best manufacturing reporting tools that will provide them insight into the productivity of the factory floor, plain and simple. Each report developed is designed to provide a bigger picture that will allow for data-driven decisions to be made.
The end goal is to make data-driven decisions that contribute to the growth of the manufacturer.
How Often Should Manufacturers Be Generating Each Report?
There are different reports for different scenarios. There are reports for tracking how a manufacturer is doing at end of a shift, on a daily basis, or weekly basis. There are manufacturing reports for tracking more long-term trends such as an end-of-month or end-of-quarter productivity report. There are many, many reports that can help make a plant floor more efficient and productive.
Mingo can automate it all.
What Should Manufacturers Do with These Reports?
Manufacturing reporting tools are necessary to understand how the plant is running, discover opportunities for improvement, or even utilize the shift level and daily reports in a regular production meeting. Frankly, the use of the reports is limitless.
Let’s use an example to illustrate the benefits of a manufacturing analytics platform and how data-driven reports can be used. A scoreboard, in this case, is a type of report, and it can provide insights into what’s happening right now and where the problems are. For example, let’s say machine number seven is having problems. With the use of a scoreboard, you can analyze what is exactly going on, in real-time. The quick insights can save you lots of worry down the road and can be reported the next morning in a production meeting as an issue averted quickly because of the use of real-time data analytics.
We’ve said this again, and we’ll say it again, technology is transforming the manufacturing industry. What worked ten years ago, may not work now. That idea can definitely apply to report tools – pen and paper reporting is just not as effective or efficient. Advanced data analytics reporting and business intelligence tools are the future of manufacturing.
