The short answer
Data and BI consulting for manufacturers and distributors connects ERP, warehouse, shipping, and pricing data into one reporting layer. It produces dashboards for margin by product and customer, inventory turns, fill rate and on-time delivery, and production performance. Leaders get current, trusted numbers without analysts rebuilding the same workbooks every month.
Why manufacturing reporting falls short
Most manufacturers have plenty of data. Getting a straight answer from it is another story.
- Margin that hides the real cost. Gross margin ignores freight, rebates, and returns, so some customers look better than they are.
- Inventory reports by request. Someone exports and pivots data every time a leader asks about stock or turns.
- Service levels nobody measures. Fill rate and on-time delivery are guessed from complaints rather than tracked.
- Multiple sites, multiple truths. Each plant or warehouse reports its own way, so totals never reconcile.
1.9 million
Manufacturing jobs that could go unfilled through 2033 if skills and applicant gaps are not addressed, according to Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute. The Manufacturing Institute
With fewer people to spare, analysts’ time is better spent acting on numbers than assembling them, which is exactly what connected reporting frees up.
What data and BI work looks like for manufacturers
Margin by product and customer
Net margin after freight, rebates, and returns, so pricing and mix decisions rest on real numbers.
Inventory health
Turns, aging, and slow movers by site and product family, refreshed automatically.
Service level tracking
Fill rate and on-time delivery by customer, carrier, and warehouse.
Multi-site consolidation
One view across plants and warehouses with shared definitions.
Which manufacturing metrics matter most?
A short list used every week beats a long list nobody reads.
| Metric | What it tells you | Who uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Net margin by customer | Who is actually profitable | Sales and finance |
| Inventory turns | How hard inventory is working | Operations and finance |
| Fill rate and OTIF | Whether customers get what they ordered on time | Operations and sales |
| Throughput by line | Where capacity is lost | Plant leadership |
Want margin and inventory reporting you do not have to rebuild each month? Book a working session.
How an engagement starts
We start with the question leadership asks most often and struggles to answer, usually margin by customer or inventory health, and agree on how each number should be calculated.
Then we connect your ERP and related systems and build the first dashboard in short cycles. If the numbers expose process problems, our business performance team can help fix them. See how we work.
Frequently asked questions
What KPIs should a manufacturer track?
Start with a few that drive decisions: net margin by product and customer, inventory turns and aging, fill rate and on-time delivery, and throughput or utilization by line. Add more only when someone will act on them. Consistent definitions across sites matter more than the number of metrics.
Can Power BI connect to our ERP?
Most ERPs used by mid-market manufacturers support API, database, or file-based connections that Power BI can use. The best method depends on your ERP, version, and hosting. Confirming the connection approach early keeps the project on schedule and avoids redesign later.
How do you calculate margin by customer?
Start with invoice line revenue and product cost, then subtract customer-specific costs such as rebates, discounts, freight, returns, and special handling. The result, net margin by customer, often reorders your customer ranking and highlights accounts that need repricing or new terms.
Can we combine data from several plants or companies?
Yes. The key is agreeing on shared definitions for products, customers, and costs, then mapping each site’s data to them. Once mapped, one dashboard can show each site and the total, which removes the monthly effort of reconciling separate reports.
How long does a first manufacturing dashboard take?
A focused first dashboard, such as inventory health or margin by customer, can often be built in a few weeks once data access is in place. Starting with one high-value view and expanding from there delivers results sooner than designing everything at once.
