by Toon Van Rossum, Switch Product Manager
Think dashboards are just another trend in automation software that will soon blow over? Think again. According to Infotrends, the dashboarding trend is clearly alive, kicking and unlikely to decline anytime soon. This isn’t all that surprising, considering the added value data visualization through dashboards creates. Read on to keep your finger on the pulse!
Sooo … What are dashboards?
While most print industry executives know how to read and interpret traditional reports, not all employees have the technical knowledge or time necessary to analyze said reports and make well-informed decisions accordingly. That’s where dashboards come in. Acting as an additional layer to traditional reports, dashboards are a very accessible data visualization tool that
- helps non-technical staff to locate jobs, pinpoint bottlenecks and improve workflows,
- and keeps track of KPIs as well as workload, the number of problem jobs, manual interactions, the size and type of files being processed, …
all in the blink of an eye, so that every member of staff can always step in instantly if needed.
Must-read: Does your workflow automation software have what it takes?
The benefits of adding dashboards to traditional reports
Not yet convinced of the benefits dashboards could bring to your automated prepress or print workflow? Then you’re missing out on …
… increased visibility
Dashboards provide on-demand visibility and insights. That means employees no longer need to wait for executives to analyze monthly reports. They can simply check all relevant data themselves!
… improved agility
When properly set up, dashboards enable users to closely track performance so that they can quickly adjust their tools or strategy whenever a change in circumstances requires them to do so.
… continuous improvement
There’s no way of properly improving something if you don’t have the means to measure the results of the changes you make. Thanks to dashboards, staff can check the impact of any change to the workflow almost in real-time – a handy means to measure progress and basically a prerequisite for continuous improvement.
Switch Reporting Module: the latest in automation software
Heads up, Switch users, because there’s a new module in town! The Switch Reporting Module allows you to monitor each stage of the production workflow in detail via a fully customizable dashboard. You can either select real-time data or define a timeframe if you wish to visualize historical data. Learn all about it!
