Revolutionising business reporting: a holistic approach

For many companies, reports are a ‘necessary evil’. They validate your decisions and show you’re making progress, but they can be painful to compile. Plus, they often get filed away and forgotten in less time than it took to create them.

Could you improve your reporting efficiency, so your team spends less time creating documents?

And what if those quick-to-compile reports were more accessible, so your colleagues used them to make better decisions, daily?

Technology is revolutionising the value of business reporting. Modern reporting solutions are replacing spreadsheets with dynamic data analysis – giving companies like yours greater insight into how your teams, projects and assets are performing at any moment.

Reporting efficiency is pivotal to today’s business operations

In 2012, McKinsey revealed that professionals spend more than nine hours a week compiling workplace reports. Some companies are still wasting this much time more than a decade later. However, others have reduced their efforts by investing in modern reporting solutions.

Reporting technology automates data analysis and report generation, so your workforce can spend less time compiling information and more time responding to what that data tells them.

Certain teams within your business may be automating reports already, but there is potential to use digital software in under-analysed parts of your business – like maintenance.

Tracking technical metrics through CMMS software can enable your company to:

• Calculate (and potentially reduce) the total cost of asset management
• Match resourcing to requirements without overspending on staff
• Understand failure rates and implement preventative maintenance plans
• Reduce unplanned downtime to increase productivity

And if you find a CMMS system that will integrate with your other operational systems, you’re well-positioned to generate holistic business insights.

What to look for in a modern reporting solution

The first step towards better data analysis is finding business reporting software to deliver fast, accurate information. For example, ShireSystem by Elecosoft uses a BI Connector to analyse data on work requests, orders, assets and parts for reporting purposes.

Look for modern reporting solutions that will enable your team to achieve:

1. Real-time data analysis: many reports are out of date by the time they’re shared. Advanced reporting software pulls real-time information on your maintenance operation to drive prompt decision-making.
2. Customisable reporting: team members often need different information, yet manual reports are hard to adapt. Digital reporting tools can tailor data for your colleagues to give them the insights they need – for example, filtering information by variables like time period, location, job type and cost.

Your team can also use modern reporting solutions to drill down into specific data and track their progress against maintenance targets.

3. Automated report generation: your company will likely have standard reports that someone must compile routinely. Digital software can automate this process to pull regular analytics in seconds for maximum reporting efficiency.
4. Interactive dashboards: everyone responds to information differently. Modern reporting solutions can adapt the way insights are displayed using customised dashboards.

For example, companies using ShireSystem can visualise information as line graphs, pie charts and column charts to make complex information easier to digest.

5. Mobile accessibility: maintenance teams are often on the move, which makes viewing the latest reports quite challenging. Updating your approach to reporting can solve this problem by providing flexible access to analytics via a mobile app.
6. Integration with other systems: modern reporting solutions like ShireSystem can integrate with your other business systems to holistically analyse how asset management impacts wider operations.

Kingspan’s story: using maintenance insights to reduce breakdowns by 15%

Kingspan is an excellent example of how reporting efficiency can improve data analysis and drive strategic improvements.

The global leader in high-performance insulation and building envelope solutions uses ShireSystem to manage over 1,000 assets across 32 production plants.

In addition to streamlining how work requests are submitted and allocated, Kingspan uses ShireSystem’s BI reporting capabilities to monitor asset management and perform root cause analysis on equipment breakdowns.

“We can see the biggest causes of downtime for every line, business unit and piece of equipment so we can identify trends and fix issues,” shares Adam Coles, Regional Engineering Manager at Kingspan.

Detailed reporting allows Adam’s team to build planned preventative maintenance (PPM) programmes for each asset. They can also create evidence-backed business cases for when to replace machinery, rather than making continual repairs.

Since onboarding ShireSystem, Kingspan’s breakdown rate has declined by 15%, and PPM jobs now account for 91% of their workload.

Read Kingspan’s story in full.

Enhance your reporting efficiency with ShireSystem

Modern reporting solutions are empowering companies like yours to optimise people and processes. They’re creating a future where every department can access accurate insights on demand to track and refine their performance, improving productivity.

Investing in cutting-edge reporting software like ShireSystem will speed up analysis and reveal new insights that improve your asset management. Some of your competitors have already automated their maintenance reporting – can you afford to cling to manual processes?

Revamp your reports: sign up for a free demo or download our guide to improving your business reporting with ShireSystem.