Submitted by: Aman Machra

Project Name: Dashboard for product tracking

Persona of the user: Let the user be a sales manager controlling a territory
(let’s say Delhi). The manager is concerned about where the inventory is and if
it is moving down the chain. He needs to know how much sales are going to be
made in the coming days in order plan ahead regarding production. The
manager’s responsibilities are to ensure the product reaches the end customer
in time and with right quality so as to maintain the brand image in the mind of
the customer. The manager worries about shocks in the chain due to sudden
shortage leading to lost sales.

Requirements:

Platform: The choice of platform for the dashboard should be desktop as the
persona of the user is of a person sitting in an office and working on his/her
desktop computer, though an app could also be a good platform for urgent
notifications to the user.

Dashboard Layout: The dashboard layout should have a vertical navigation

aligned to the left. This would allow the user to easily navigate between
various sections of the dashboard.

Each section of the dashboard represents a value proposition to the user or a

problem that is being solved for the user. The sections on the dashboard will
be Overview, Inventory Management, Brand Safety and Product Tracking.

Overview section: The purpose of the overview section is to give a glimpse of

the necessary metrics to the user that he/she wants to track on a daily basis.
The metrics to be covered under this section should be:

1. Bar chart showing expected demand for the average lead time at each
node type and current inventory in stock. This can further be filters at
product category/sub-category/SKU level by the user
 2. Percentage of bad product (returns + discarded batch products + outside
territory product) as a percentage of sales of a product category based
on dates selected. Clicking on a bar in the chart, the user will be taken to
the Brand Safety section
3. A snapshot of percentage of products at various node types (warehouse,
distributor, retailer) and in-transit for each product category

Overview Section

Inventory Management: The purpose of this section is to inform the user

about the health of inventory and its availability/shortage in the supply chain.
The tabs under this section will be:
1. Inventory Level: Under this tab, the user will be shown an aggregate of
the inventory at various types of nodes i.e. warehouse, distributor and
retailer and the expected demand based on historical data for different
product categories / sub-categories / SKUs. The user will then be able to
drill down by selecting a product category/sub-category and node type
which will give him the list of warehouses / distributors / retailers with
their inventory levels and expected demand. This would enable the user
to check where shortage is happening in the chain.
The user will also be given a map interface to select a node and view its
inventory level and expected demand of different product categories
and sub-categories.
2. Time to Reach: Under this tab, the user will be shown the average time
taken by product categories to reach from one node to another i.e.
Manufacturer to Warehouse, Warehouse to Distributor, Distributor to
Distributor and Distributor to Retailer. This gives the user an idea about
the lead time. The user will be able to click on a product category and
node combination to get the list of all start and end node combinations
and the average lead time between them based on the dates selected.
3. Wait Time: Under this tab, the user will be shown the average time
taken by a product category at a node type. The user can select a
category and node to see the average wait time of the products on the
nodes of a particular type. This will enable the user to check the points
which lead to significant delays resulting in the time between
manufacturing and reaching the end customer becoming significantly
longer.
 Inventory Management Section

Brand Safety section: The purpose of this section is to inform the user about
aspects that could lead to loss of brand value in the mind of the user. The tabs
under this section will be:

1. Returns: Under returns the user will be shown a bar chart of product
returned as a percentage of products sold by retailers. The user will be
able to aggregate data based on dates and different levels e.g. category,
sub-category of SKU. This allows the user to narrow down the category
or sub-categories that are having returns problem.
 Another bar chart will be shown regarding returns from particular
retailers. The chart will show return percentage of retailers having
maximum return percentage. Only top 20 retailers will be shown and the
rest of the data to be aggregated under others. The user will be able to
select the name of a retailer and get its return percentage by product
category or sub-category. This will allow the user to find the retailer who
have high return percentage and among which product categories.
2. Quality Audits: Under this tab, the user will be shown the percentage of
batches of different product categories/sub-categories that have failed
quality check in the supply chain. The user on clicking a bar in the graph
will be shown the nodes on the supply chain that had delivered the
rejected batches. This would allow user to trace the source of spoilage in
the chain.
3. Territory Encroachment: Under this tab, the user will be shown the
territories that were outside the territorial extent of the user where the
product was sold. The territories will be shown in a list format as well as
on a map. On click a territory, the user will see the list of nodes in the
territorial extent of the user who had supplied the product to an
unauthorized node that eventually led the product being sold outside
territory. This would allow the user to view territories where products
were sold unauthorized and who were delivering them.
 Brand Safety Section

Product Tracking: The purpose of this section is to allow the user to visualize
the flow of any product in the supply chain. This will be done by using a map
visualization. The data will also be available to the user in a tabular format.

1. The user will be able to select a node and see the list of products going
in and out of that node
2. The user will be able to select a particular SKU or a batch and see its
movement on the map
 Product Tracking Section

Comments: The charts and maps used in the dashboard follow a pattern of
progressive disclosure. By clicking on a bar in the chart the user will be able to
go to the next level aggregation of the data.