Power BI Case Study - Manufacturing Dashboard

How a Manufacturing Business Used Microsoft Power BI to Drive Real-World Results

Data is essential for manufacturers aiming to optimise production processes, reduce waste and improve overall efficiency. Across the sector, businesses are increasingly adopting data-driven strategies to meet growing demands for quality, speed, and cost-effectiveness. The UK manufacturing sector contributed £217 billion last year, supporting 2.6 million jobs (MakeUK).

Having helped many manufacturers unlock the value of their data, I understand the challenges they face in turning complex operational data into actionable insights.

Build The Story, Then The Dashboard - Manufacturing Edition!

In this Power BI case study, I want to show how we use Power BI to help a custom furniture manufacturer in the UK take data from various sources and build a Microsoft Power BI dashboard that wasn’t just pretty, but it solved problems, answered real questions and improved decision-making. This used various different Azure data sources, advanced security such as row-level security and DAX to derive necessary measures using our chosen data analytics tool - Power BI!

This blog offers a concise, text-based summary of the video walkthrough, highlighting the story, approach and business outcomes. I’ve received great feedback on the video, so feel free to check it out, but if you prefer a quicker read, this blog is for you.

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So, what do I mean by "build the story, then the dashboard"? When creating reports in Power BI, we need to dedicate more time and effort to gathering requirements. Most reporting projects fail because the requirements have not been gathered from the right people, the AUDIENCE, you know… the actual end users of the solution. Instead, we often rely on someone who claims to know all the requirements, which leads to a lack of trust in the solution when it's time to go-live. We don't consider the actual business needs. And trust me, end-users will definitely take it out on the final product and the business intelligence tool, Power BI!

This is why I always push BUILD THE STORY, THEN THE DASHBOARD!

In data analytics, we cannot simply ask end-users questions like the below and call it a day. In all honesty, this is lazy work by the reporting analyst. Our job is to HELP users uncover what they truly need and derive meaningful insights

• What do you want?
• How do you want to see it?
• Do you have an existing report you can share?

Instead of these surface-level questions, we should be diving deeper (same way we conduct data analysis) with more tailored questions that get the end-users thinking.

Questions such as:

• Where are you trying to go?
• What are the objectives you are trying to achieve?
• What challenges are you looking to overcome?
• Why do you need this Power BI reports?
• What metric must be track?
• What actions do you want to derive?

Too often, we take a high-level request and run with it, straight to Power BI (or any other tool like Power BI), Power Query Editor, SQL, advanced analytics capabilities, but you get the idea... straight into development. This is how solutions end up BINNED. Instead, we must spend time with the right people: the factory staff and managers, production and operations managers, assemble line workers, warehouse staff, quality control inspectors, etc. Engage directly with them to understand the reasons behind the need for this solution, the spreadsheet nightmares they are having, their financial performance and overall decision-making processes.

Create a wireframe to present and validate the ideas with them. Do not dive headfirst into development without giving the solution the right level of thought and attention.

So, again... BUILD THE STORY, THEN THE DASHBOARD! Below, we will see some elements of this Power BI for advanced analytics and retail data visualisation.

How to Gather The Story for this Power BI Case Study?

The diagram below provides a high-level overview of the elements I consider when gathering an effective data story. It highlights the process of transforming end-user requirements into solutions that deliver genuine insights. While this showcases the foundational steps, there is far more depth to the method than meets the eye.

The below was derived through various workshops with a group of inventory managers. It was created using the approach, "Build The Story, Then The Dashboard".

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The Manufacturing Performance Power BI Dashboard

The below Power BI solution was the outcome of the above. Again, it was built for Inventory managers who oversee raw materials, work-in-progress, finished goods and MRO items. All our dashboards and reports are built using such approach.

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Challenges This Solution Solves for Manufacturing Teams:

• Struggling to identify production bottlenecks and react to inefficiencies in real-time.
• No single view of key KPIs like utilisation rate, downtime, and SMV to track factory performance.
• Difficulty in balancing inventory levels, leading to overstocked or understocked materials.
• Lack of real-time visibility into stock adjustments, causing discrepancies and write-offs.
• Teams lack access to data on the factory floor, delaying operational decisions.

Key Questions Answered by This Solution:

• Are we meeting production targets and maintaining optimal efficiency?
• Which factories or machines are underperforming, and why?
• How can we reduce downtime and improve utilisation?
• Are we holding too much or too little stock in key material categories?
• How can I equip my team with real-time insights using a Power BI expert for manufacturing?

Discover Your Story, Build Meaningful Solutions, Visualise Data

To summarise, turning raw data into actionable insights is not just about creating visually appealing dashboards - it’s about designing solutions that solve real business challenges and drive impactful decisions. By focusing on "Build The Story, Then The Dashboard", we help uncover the true needs of your end-users and create tailored solutions that deliver measurable results.

The Manufacturing Performance Dashboard is just one example of how this approach can transform how businesses operate. From identifying underperforming machines to empowering teams with data-driven actions, meaningful solutions start with understanding the story behind the numbers.

If you want to uncover your organisation’s story and create solutions that go beyond surface-level reporting, Metis BI is here to help. Our proven process ensures your reports are designed with purpose, empowering your teams to act with confidence and clarity. Book a Free Consultation here: ‍

Power BI Help | Free Consultation & Support | Schedule a Call with Metis BI

Beyond Manufacturing: Exploring Data Visualisation Use Cases Across Industries

While this blog focused on a manufacturing use case, the same approach can be applied across industries, from Financial Services and Non-Profit to Utilities and Retail.

In fact, our retail case study followed the same “Build the Story, Then the Dashboard” framework, helping teams integrate Power BI with various data sources to analyse and visualise regional performance, top performing stores and uncover which store managers may need more assitance. The solution allowed them to turn raw data into meaningful insights and identify areas for improvement, powered by Power BI and built on a scalable BI platform.

In Healthcare, this methodology can also be used to support Bed Management teams and Operational Supervisors (solution soon to be shared). By integrating Power BI with Microsoft Azure and pulling patient data from different healthcare services, we can create a unified view of bed availability, admissions and discharges. The Power BI solution can provide real-time forecasting, visualisations of columns charts, pie charts and more for bed usage and insights into operational flow. This implementation of Power BI would improve healthcare services, reduced delays and enabled proactive decisions, all from a report built for people, not just data.