Daily Metrics Board: Track Orders, Safety, and Downtime at a Glance

A shared board shows the day's key numbers on a rolling week so the whole team sees the same status.

Creator: Northwestern Michigan College
Company: Hayes Manufacturing
Wastes: Defects Motion

Problem

Key operational data like material availability, orders, safety incidents, and machine downtime lived in people's heads or scattered systems, so problems surfaced too late. Sending a job to the shop without material on hand could cost a full week waiting on an order.

Solution

The team built a daily board that covers all key metrics for the day, laid out as a rolling week so recent days stay visible. Each morning the board is updated and reviewed to keep a finger on the pulse of orders, safety, and machine downtime.

Lean principle

Make the vital few metrics visible in one shared place so the team manages by fact, not memory.

What is a Daily Metrics Board?

A daily metrics board is a physical visual management tool that displays a plant's most important numbers in one fixed location. Common categories include order volume, safety incidents, machine downtime, and material readiness.

This board uses a rolling week layout. Instead of a single snapshot, it shows a few days back and the current day, so trends and recent gaps stay in view. Yesterday's column is filled in, today's gets updated, and older days roll off.

The board becomes the reference point for a short standup or huddle. Everyone reads the same status, so decisions about material ordering, staffing, and priorities are made from shared facts rather than guesswork.

Why it works

The board turns scattered, tribal knowledge into a shared, reusable picture that anyone can read and act on.

Makes proven status checks, like confirming material on hand, a visible daily habit instead of a memory task.
Lets the whole team reuse the same data, so nobody rediscovers a problem that is already known.
Mistake-proofs job release by surfacing missing material before a job hits the shop floor.
The rolling week keeps context alive so recurring issues get spotted, not forgotten.

Evidence: Missing material used to send a job to the shop and cost a good week of time waiting on an order; the board helps ensure material is on hand at any given time.

How to create this idea

1
Pick the vital few metrics
Choose the numbers that drive daily decisions: orders, safety incidents, machine downtime, and material readiness.
2
Set a rolling week layout
Lay out columns for each day so recent days and today stay visible while older days roll off.
3
Place it where the team gathers
Mount the board in a fixed, high-traffic spot so it is the shared reference point.
4
Assign daily ownership
Make one person responsible for updating each day's column before the huddle.
5
Run a short daily review
Meet at the board to read the metrics, flag gaps like missing material, and set actions.

Best used when

daily standups
shop floor status
material readiness
tracking safety and downtime

Less useful when

one-off projects
no daily rhythm
metrics nobody acts on

Daily Metrics Board: Track Orders, Safety, and Downtime at a Glance

What is a Daily Metrics Board?

Why it works

How to create this idea

Best used when

Less useful when

Tags

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