Logistics dashboard: the tool for improving your productivity

Are you a logistics manager or someone directly involved in your company's supply chain who wants to act quickly in the event of drift, or even prevent the risk of errors?

A logistics dashboard is the tool you need to effectively manage your company's activity, keep track of your objectives and improve your logistics flow and performance.

See all software Supply Chain Management

Logistics dashboard: definition

What is a logistics dashboard?

In the logistics sector, data is often disparate and comes from several communication channels (email, software, ERP, etc.).

The dashboard is a tool for centralising your data and giving it meaning.

In order to use your information effectively and improve performance, you can develop your own dashboard where your data is structured and available to all your company's staff.

Why use a dashboard?

Thanks to this tool, you can make decisions quickly and analyse your various performance indicators so that you can target and achieve your objectives.

Drawing up your dashboard enables you to set objectives and monitor your progress. So, in the long term, it's an essential tool for growing your business, improving customer satisfaction and your company's results.

💡 Please note: A dashboard compares the current state with the objectives set at the outset. Under no circumstances can it prevent malfunctions from continuing! Given the current changes, make sure you take a step back from your data.

What does it look like?

The logistics dashboard is mainly made up of performance indicators, which you need to choose carefully.

Studying how this data changes over time will be useful for setting new objectives or modifying your logistics and operational strategies.

6 steps to building a logistics dashboard

Step 1: Gather the information you need to create your logistics dashboard

Before starting to create your logistics dashboard, it is first necessary to analyse your needs and the resources you will be using.

• list the different people who will be using the logistics dashboard,
• formalise the intended use (service, delivery, orders, warehouse organisation, etc.),
• present your desired display frequency and alerts,
• indicate your required data source.

Step 2: Identify and mobilise the people involved

Once you've drawn up a list of the people involved, think about working together on the logistics dashboard. It is important that the people involved are trained beforehand so that they can use your logistics dashboard properly.

Step 3: Choose your performance indicators (KPIs)

There are 3 categories of performance indicators:

• Warning indicators, which signal the presence of a malfunction or an abnormal situation requiring corrective action (e.g. stock shortages);
• Efficiency and balancing indicators measuring the current situation in relation to the objectives set beforehand (availability rate, supply reliability, stock rotation, lead times, etc.);
• Anticipation indicators provide information on future needs. Based on future events, they give you an indication of future stock levels. In this way, your teams can anticipate and implement stock variation strategies.

They can take several forms: ratios, lists, graphs, tables, diagrams, etc.

Step 4: Build the dashboard based on your objectives

Although you have analysed your resources beforehand, it is essential to target your objectives. Discuss them with your staff and teams beforehand so that you can be more effective and not miss any points:

• Identify your quantifiable and achievable objectives,
• select your sources of usable data
• Choose the right type of performance indicator for each objective,
• define the frequency with which you will update each indicator,
• launch your dashboard verification process,
• check the applicability of the dashboards.

Step 5: update the data in your dashboard according to the planned timescales

If you want to coordinate your teams and, above all, improve customer satisfaction, don't neglect the deadlines and updates for your logistics dashboard:

• collect your constituent data,
• use your dashboards in the decision-making process
• formalise your updating process (data sources, processing method).

Step 6: Check and modify your dashboard if necessary

In order to keep your teams informed, it is important to regularly modify your logistics dashboard if you want it to remain relevant:

• modify your data according to changes in the context and your objectives,
• withdraw your data if there are mismatches between the indicators and the objectives set.

💡 Tip: to avoid unpleasant surprises, set up a trial period for your dashboard so that your agents know how to use the tool correctly and so that you can correct any bugs. Stimulate different scenarios before the final validation of your logistics dashboard.

Which tools should you choose to create a logistics dashboard?

The logistics dashboard in Excel

You can use Excel to create your logistics dashboard. Most of your agents will already be familiar with this tool and will probably have already used it, so familiarisation will be an advantage.

But in the long term, Excel is not very effective for creating a relevant logistics dashboard. The work will be time-consuming and complex. It's also possible that a number of bugs will occur as a result of human error, rendering your dashboard unusable and increasing your costs.

The Excel dashboard system is therefore likely to monopolise significant resources in terms of time, while being less effective for this very specific type of use.

Specialist software

To save time and increase efficiency, there are online solutions available to help you manage your logistics activities.

In particular, they offer you the following advantages

• data updated in real time
• collaborative aspect,
• a secure system that complies with current regulations,
• a user-friendly interface that's quick and easy to learn.

💡 Sof tware examples

🛠️ b2wise is a supply chain management software package that enables you to plan your stocks as accurately as possible. One of the key features of this solution is the development of an innovative methodology: Demand Driven MRP. Thanks to its application, supply chain managers are able to align their stocks precisely with actual market demand, and thus avoid the problems of overstocking or understocking.

b2wise makes it possible to :

• Create personalised, visual reports and dashboards to analyse your performance and make projections,
• plan your supplies, distribution and production: create different scenarios, take account of your logistical constraints and demand, etc,
• take a training course in DDMRP methodology so that you can improve your skills.

Thanks to its many functions and its technology (AI, machine learning and predictive analysis), b2wise promises significant productivity gains in your logistics activities, as well as improvements in the quality of your services. And it's easy to use!

🛠️ Metronome is an automation and productivity solution that boosts all your logistics activities. By combining your data and grouping all your operational processes on the same platform, you gain visibility and proactivity: each activity is assigned to the right person, in the right place, at the right time.

What Metronome offers you :

• Easy access to your business data, connected from different systems (ERP, WMS, APS, CRM, etc.) and real-time tracking of all stages,
• configuration of business rules to automatically launch actions and workflows using intelligent triggers, whenever urgent action is required,
• accurately track your KPIs and create clear, visual performance reports.

Say goodbye to Excel! Free yourself from manual task allocation thanks to a high-performance solution that puts your supply chain on autopilot and facilitates stakeholder interaction across the board!

🛠️ Odoo inventory is an all-in-one software package that can be fully customised and integrated to suit your different needs. Odoo's dashboards enable you to monitor your objectives and performance effectively, making it easier to take decisions. You can reduce the number of applications you need and use just one software package to centralise all your logistics operations.

The key features of the solution are

• Accurate forecasts, with reports and flowcharts available in real time to avoid stock-outs,
• automation of many processes (no need for manual input) and a unified platform facilitating communication between all departments for optimum monitoring,
• comparisons with past monthly targets, so you can plan your next actions and exceed them.

With all the information displayed on your interface, you can remotely control your warehouse and know what's going on at a glance.

🛠️ TRADE.EASY, ERP for companies in the trade, distribution and industry sectors, also offers a specific module for managing import-export operations. This module enables you to effectively manage all your logistics flows, which are often affected by changes in ETD/ETA and by regulatory, legal and contractual constraints that expose you to a number of risks.

With TRADE.EASY, you can set up compliance workflows to identify and anticipate every formality or action to be implemented for all your operations. These formalities, configured according to your needs, can be generic or specifically linked to goods, countries or partners. What's more, the documentary package (generated or imported) is centralised for each operation.

Thanks to your automatic To-Do List, the list of shipments and the dashboard for each shipment, you can find all the information you need to monitor and manage your logistics flows in real time, with just a few clicks. Customs blockages, penalties, supply disruptions and lost sales become a thing of the past.

See all software Supply Chain Management

Mistakes to avoid in a dashboard

Mistake No. 1: not taking the time to carry out a complete analysis

If your initial analysis is poorly done or incomplete, your logistics dashboard will be flawed and your performance indicators will be irrelevant.

Define your objectives beforehand and discuss them with your colleagues to draw up a list of your resources and activities.

Mistake no. 2: choosing too many performance indicators

Adopting performance indicators for your managers is a real advantage when it comes to choosing a particular strategy, but be careful not to overdo it. The clearer and more concise your data, the better you'll be able to target an effective strategy that's tailored to your problem.

Mistake no. 3: choosing complex metrics

Your measurement tools must be easy for all your staff to read. It should be easy for all your teams to find out about the metrics.

Mistake no. 4: Abandoning modifications and monitoring of your table

Regularly update your tools and collect the constituent data so that the information displayed can help you make the right choices.

With up-to-date data, your teams can do their jobs more effectively.

Don't hesitate to delete indicators if you feel they are obsolete or no longer relevant to the situation.

Mistake no. 5: underestimating task automation

Optimising your company's supply chain also means knowing how to adapt to new technologies. You need to be efficient, of course, but above all you need to be responsive. If you feel the need, and if you have a budget that allows you to do so, don't hesitate to automate tasks that seem tedious or spend too many resources.

👉 Example: automated storage with shuttles, traceability processes for your product flows, automated transport, order management, etc.

These tools can also be linked to a real-time dashboard.

What are your tips for optimising your logistics dashboard? Tell us in the comments!