6.3 Dashboards & KPIs

A dashboard serves as a control panel rather than an art gallery. Metrics that do not directly drive a decision should be removed. Vanity metrics obscure reality and should be avoided. Focus must be placed firmly on the physics of the business: Velocity, Quality, and Yield.

The dashboard hierarchy

Views must be segregated by role to prevent information overload.

The tactical cockpit (daily - rep/Project Manager)

Focus: Immediate action.
Widgets: Open Quotes > 3 Days, Orders Past Due, Active Complaints, New Leads.
Goal: Zero red flags by 5:00 p.m..

The managerial view (weekly - director)

Focus: Process health and coaching.
Widgets: Win Rate by Rep, Pipeline Coverage (Ratio), On-Time Delivery (OTIF) trend, Scrap $ by Line.
Goal: Identify bottlenecks and resource constraints.

The executive view (monthly - VP/c-level)

Focus: Financial health and strategic risk.
Widgets: Net Revenue Retention (NRR), Margin Leakage, Concentration Risk (Top 3 Customers %), Cash Flow Forecast.
Goal: Resource allocation and course correction.

KPI dictionary & formulas

Definitions must be standardized. “Win Rate” calculated by Count is misleading; it must be calculated by Value ($).

Metric	Formula	Owner	Threshold / Goal
Quote Cycle Time	∑ ( Datesent - Datereceived ) / Totalquotes	Sales Mgr	≤ 48 Hours (Standard)≤ 5 Days (Complex NPI)
Win Rate ($)	Won Deal Value / (Won + Lost Deal Value)	Sales VP	> 30% (New Logo)> 70% (Existing Acct)
OTIF (On Time In Full)	Orders Delivered (OnTime + Complete) / Total Orders	Ops Mgr	≥ 98% (World Class)Note: Late = Late, even by 1 hour.
Margin Leakage	Quoted Margin % - Actual Production Margin %	Finance	< 2% Variance. Gap implies bad quoting or shop floor waste.
Quality Escapes	Total Customer Returns / Total Units Shipped (PPM)	Quality Mgr	< 500 PPM (Standard)0 PPM (Safety Critical)
NRR (Net Revenue Retention)	(Starting ARR + Expansion - Churn) / Starting ARR	CS Lead	> 110% (Growth Mode)< 100% means the bucket is leaking.

The review rhythm (governance)

Data without a meeting cadence is just wallpaper. The following review schedule must be enforced.

Monday morning pulse (30 mins)

Attendees: Sales Team, Account Managers.
Agenda:
- Review “Stalled” Deals (opportunities where the stage has remained unchanged for > 14 days).
- Review Quote Cycle Time breaches to understand blockers.
- Assign actions for key commitments closing within the week.

Monthly operations review (60 mins)

Attendees: Ops Director, Quality Manager, Sales Lead.
Agenda:
- OTIF Root Cause Analysis: Investigate missed delivery dates (e.g. distinguishing between supply chain issues and internal capacity constraints).
- Escapes & 8D Status: Review open critical customer complaints.
- Margin Analysis: Compare the Standard Cost against the Actual Cost for the top 5 jobs.

Quarterly business review (internal QBR)

Attendees: C-Suite, All Department Heads.
Agenda:
- NRR & Churn Analysis.
- Capacity Planning (Do we need more lines/shifts based on pipeline?).
- Strategic alignment check.

Recap: Key Performance Indicators & Metrics

Metric	Formula / Definition	Target / Threshold	Owner	Review Cadence
Quote Cycle Time	(∑ (Date Sent - Date Received)) / Total Quotes	≤ 48 Hours (Standard); ≤ 5 Days (Complex NPI)	Sales Manager	Daily (Monday Pulse)
Win Rate ($)	Won Deal Value / (Won + Lost Deal Value)	> 30% (New Logo); > 70% (Existing Account)	Sales VP	Weekly (Managerial View)
OTIF (On Time In Full)	Orders Delivered (On Time & Complete) / Total Orders	≥ 98% (World Class); Late = Late (even by 1 hour)	Ops Manager	Weekly (Managerial View); Monthly Ops Review
Margin Leakage	Quoted Margin % - Actual Production Margin %	< 2% Variance	Finance	Monthly Ops Review
Quality Escapes (PPM)	(Total Customer Returns / Total Units Shipped) * 1,000,000	< 500 PPM (Standard); 0 PPM (Safety Critical)	Quality Manager	Monthly Ops Review
NRR (Net Revenue Retention)	(Starting ARR + Expansion - Churn) / Starting ARR	> 110% (Growth Mode)	CS Lead	Quarterly Business Review