Manufacturing
See job margin, stock and production as they stand this morning.
We bring ERP, scheduling, CRM and spreadsheet data together in Power BI and Microsoft Fabric, so leaders see true job cost, margin, WIP and stock without waiting for month-end.
The short answer
How do I see true job margin in manufacturing?
Combine what the job was quoted at, what it actually consumed and how long it actually took. That means joining ERP costs and invoices with scheduling or timesheet data in one model, then reporting margin by job, customer and product. Power BI does the reporting; Microsoft Fabric is used when the data comes from several systems, entities or currencies.
Where it breaks
Where this usually goes wrong.
Reports built by hand
Someone exports from the ERP every week and rebuilds the same spreadsheet.
Margin known too late
True job cost is only clear after month-end, when nothing can be changed.
Data split across systems
Costs sit in the ERP, hours in scheduling, opportunities in the CRM and budgets in Excel.
Several entities and currencies
Sales across Australia, the US or Europe need converting and consolidating before anyone can compare them.
How it works
How it works on the Microsoft Power Platform.
01
Connect the sources
ERP, scheduling, CRM and controlled SharePoint files such as budgets and mappings are connected through APIs or scheduled extracts.
02
Build one model
Data is cleaned and modelled once, in layers from raw to report-ready, so every report uses the same definitions.
03
Agree the measures
Margin, WIP, delivery performance and stock value are defined with finance and operations before anything is built.
04
Report by job, customer and product
Power BI reports drill from totals down to individual jobs and lines.
05
Handle currency and entities
Exchange rates, such as daily RBA rates, convert multi-currency data to AUD while keeping local-currency views.
06
Alerts, not just reports
Exceptions such as a job running over budget or stock falling below a threshold are sent to Microsoft Teams.
Where we start
What a first release looks like.
One reporting area, usually sales and margin or stock, from one ERP, validated line by line against numbers your finance team already trusts before anyone relies on it.
- One reporting area from one ERP
- Measures agreed with finance and operations
- Line-by-line validation before release
- Scheduled refresh and email subscriptions
From our delivery work
Where we have done this.
Client names are withheld for live engagements unless a case study has been published.
Furniture and fabrics manufacturer
We built a Microsoft Fabric lakehouse combining Australian, US and European data, with RBA exchange rates, stock reporting and job drill-through. Scheduling data is next, for true job margin.
Tank manufacturer
We are discussing reporting directly from its ERP to replace a hard-to-maintain Excel master schedule.
Questions we get asked
Frequently asked questions.
Do we need Microsoft Fabric, or is Power BI enough?
Power BI alone is often enough for one ERP and a handful of reports. Fabric earns its place when you combine several systems, multiple entities or currencies, a long history, or want an AI query layer over your data.
Which ERPs can you report from?
Any ERP we can read through an API, database connection or scheduled export, including MYOB Acumatica, Jim2, SAP, Dynamics 365, Epicor and MYOB EXO.
How do you make sure the numbers are right?
We validate against reports your finance team already trusts, line by line, before anything is released. Differences are explained and fixed, not hidden.
What is WIP reporting in manufacturing?
Work in progress reporting shows the value and status of jobs that have started but not finished: costs incurred, billing to date and expected margin. It needs ERP and production data together.
Can we ask questions of our data in plain English?
Yes, once the data is modelled and validated. Copilot and AI query layers work well on a clean, governed model and poorly on raw exports, which is why the model comes first.
Related
Where this usually connects.
Quote automation
For engineered-to-order and rebuild work, we use AI to read the customer's scope, find similar past jobs, parts, labour and margins in your ERP, and produce a draft quote for your estimator to check.
Shop-floor and document capture
We replace paper job cards, delivery dockets, inspection sheets and supplier paperwork with scanning, barcodes and simple Power Apps, so the office sees what the floor did without retyping it.
CAD and PLM to ERP integration
We connect CAD and PLM systems such as SolidWorks, Inventor, Windchill and Creo to your ERP, so released BOMs, part numbers and drawings reach purchasing and production automatically.
Tell us which number you wait longest for.
In a 30-minute discovery call we'll trace where that number comes from and what it would take to see it daily.