For manufacturing organisations looking to increase efficiency, eliminate waste, and make better use of their data, Power BI is proving to be a transformative tool.
With its ability to bring real-time operational, production, and financial data into a single visual platform, Power BI dashboards are becoming critical to productivity gains across the factory floor and beyond.
This blog explores how utilising Power BI for manufacturers is helping organisations reduce downtime, increase output, and make confident, data-driven decisions.
The Manufacturing Data Challenge
Manufacturers generate a huge volume of data from ERP systems, machine sensors, SCADA interfaces, quality control platforms, inventory management tools and beyond.
The challenge is not a lack of information, but rather a lack of visibility and cohesion. Siloed systems mean key metrics are often buried in spreadsheets or legacy platforms, leaving decision-makers blind to performance bottlenecks or emerging risks.
Power BI solves this by aggregating data from across the organisation — both on-premise and cloud-based — and turning it into real-time dashboards that provide immediate insights. From the boardroom to the production line, users at every level gain access to the data they need, when they need it.
Benefits Of Power BI For Manufacturing
Manufacturers are deriving a wide array of benefits from operating out of Power BI. These include:
- Real-Time Operational Insight: Instantly track key metrics such as OEE, downtime, output rates, and shift performance with live data feeds across your operations.
- Improved Decision-Making: Bring together data from ERP, MES, and finance systems to inform agile, data-driven decisions across departments.
- Enhanced Visibility Across Sites: Access dashboards from anywhere via mobile or desktop, ensuring production oversight at both single and multi-site levels.
- Custom Reporting & KPIs: Tailor dashboards to your exact processes, tracking production, quality, cost, and delivery metrics specific to your business goals.
- Support For Lean & Continuous Improvement: Easily spot trends, identify bottlenecks, and benchmark performance to drive structured process improvements.
Key Power BI Reports For Manufacturing That Drive Gains
The power of Power BI lies in its ability to deliver highly visual, easily digestible data at a glance.
Based on our experience, here are some of the most impactful dashboards manufacturers are using to drive efficiency and business value:
Production Line Performance Dashboard
Provides real-time oversight of individual production lines, helping managers monitor key metrics such as:
- Cycle time per unit
- Actual vs. planned output
- Machine status and uptime
- Operator performance by shift
This dashboard enables production leaders to detect bottlenecks early, reallocate resources in real time, and ensure lines remain on target, especially valuable in high-volume or just-in-time environments.
Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) Dashboard
This report combines data on availability, performance, and quality into one centralised view. Metrics commonly visualised include:
- Equipment availability vs. scheduled time
- Speed loss due to minor stoppages
- Quality loss from defects and rework
It’s a key dashboard for maintenance and operations teams looking to minimise unplanned downtime and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
Inventory & Materials Management Dashboard
Tracks movement and status of raw materials, work-in-progress, and finished goods. Highlights include:
- Inventory levels by warehouse or location
- Turnover rate and ageing stock
- Stockouts and replenishment alerts
- Cost of inventory held
By integrating with ERP or MRP systems, this dashboard helps avoid material shortages that delay production, while also optimising inventory levels to reduce overheads.
Quality Control & Defect Analysis Dashboard
Visualises product quality data across lines, batches, or suppliers, offering insights into:
- Defect rates by category or shift
- Root causes of non-conformance
- Inspection pass/fail rates
- Supplier defect contribution
This dashboard empowers QA teams to act quickly on emerging issues, spot trends before they escalate, and continuously improve product standards.
Financial Manufacturing Dashboard
Perhaps most vital from a management perspective, this links production data to financial performance for strategic decision-making. Useful metrics include:
- Cost per unit produced
- Labour and overhead allocation by product line
- Gross margin by SKU or customer
- Variance analysis against forecast
This dashboard gives finance and operations leaders a joined-up view of profitability and efficiency, ensuring production aligns with commercial priorities.
Why Manufacturers Are Choosing Power BI
Unlike traditional business intelligence tools that require heavy IT involvement, Power BI empowers end-users to explore and analyse data independently. Its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, pre-built templates, and tight integration with Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 make it highly accessible to non-technical users.
More importantly, its cost-effectiveness and scalability make it suitable for manufacturers of any size. With Power BI, you don’t need to overhaul your tech stack; you simply connect to it and start making better decisions.
Manufacturing dashboards in Power BI are not just about visualisation — they’re about transformation. By equipping decision-makers with accurate, real-time insights, manufacturers are able to:
- Cut waste and improve yield
- Reduce unplanned downtime
- Accelerate production planning
- Improve delivery performance
- Increase operational agility
In an industry where margins are tight and efficiency is critical, Power BI delivers the visibility manufacturers need to stay competitive.
Get Started With Power BI For Manufacturing
Implementing effective Power BI dashboards starts with understanding your data landscape and business goals.
As a Microsoft Business Applications partner with experience across ERP, MRP, and custom dashboard development, Akita Intelligent Solutions helps manufacturers unlock the real value of their data.
From initial consultancy and dashboard design to ongoing support and training, we deliver Power BI solutions that empower your teams and drive real results on the factory floor.
Ready to transform productivity with Power BI dashboards?
Speak to Akita today to explore tailored Power BI for manufacturing reporting:
