Top 15 Power BI Dashboard Examples for the Manufacturing Industry

• Power BI for manufacturing is most effective when dashboards are role-based (plant manager, quality head, finance) and focus on a small set of critical KPIs, such as OEE, downtime, defect rate, cost per unit, and on-time delivery.
• A high-performing manufacturing analytics stack typically includes at least 15+ dashboard types, with must-haves such as manufacturing analytics, inventory, supplier quality, cost optimization, procurement, customer profitability, and an executive/balanced scorecard view.
• Strong manufacturing dashboards share common design traits: a single-page overview, a clean grid layout, consistent color semantics, real-time or frequent refreshes, simple filters (plant, line, shift), and clear drill-through paths for investigation.
• A practical way to build a Power BI manufacturing dashboard is to: define the audience and decisions, choose 5–10 KPIs, connect ERP/MES/IoT data, model and clean it in Power BI, design visuals around those KPIs, add interactivity, then publish with role-based security.
• Adding a dedicated manufacturing KPI section and FAQ (covering dashboard vs report, key KPIs, refresh frequency, data sources, and cost) significantly improves search relevance for queries like “manufacturing KPI dashboards” and increases the chances of appearing in AI Overviews and featured snippets.

Data is the most crucial thing in the present times. Those who make the best use of data are going to thrive in their endeavors.

In manufacturing, this is even more true. Plant managers, production heads, and operations leaders need real‑time visibility into production, quality, inventory, costs, and supplier performance to make the right decisions at the right time.

Power BI lets you bring data from ERP systems, MES systems, IoT sensors, and spreadsheets into role‑based dashboards that track metrics such as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), downtime, defect rate, and cost per unit.

Whether you’re a seasoned industry veteran or just starting your data‑driven journey, these Power BI manufacturing dashboard examples will show how to turn raw shop‑floor and business data into clear, actionable insights.

In this guide, you’ll learn:

• What is a Power BI dashboard, and how it differs from a Power BI report?
• What makes a great Power BI dashboard for manufacturing teams?
• 15+ real‑world dashboard examples (production, quality, inventory, finance, cost, procurement, executive, and more)
• The key manufacturing KPIs each dashboard should track
• A simple step‑by‑step approach to building your own dashboards in Power BI
• Answers to the most common Power BI for manufacturing FAQs

What is a BI Dashboard?

A BI (Business Intelligence) dashboard is an analysis and data visualization tool that displays key performance indicators (KPIs) and other critical business metrics required for decision-making. This application combines graphs, tables, and charts to provide insights across departments such as finance, marketing, and operations.

BI dashboards don’t have a rigid, predetermined structure, allowing you to display metrics relevant to your sector or role. These data visualization tools include numerous capabilities that simplify complex and raw, data-heavy information, providing you with an instant overview of your organization’s past, current, and future performance.

In a manufacturing context, BI dashboards typically bring together data from ERP, MES, quality systems, inventory management, and IoT devices to give you a consolidated view of:

• Production volumes and throughput
• OEE and machine performance
• Quality and defect trends
• Inventory and material availability
• Supplier performance and logistics
• Cost and profitability by product, plant, or customer

Power BI Dashboard vs Report: What’s the Difference?

Although “dashboards” and “reports” are often used interchangeably, they serve different purposes in Power BI:

Here are a few applications of the Power BI tool:

Power BI Dashboard

• Single page (“canvas”) that shows high‑level KPIs at a glance
• Built in the Power BI Service by pinning visuals from one or more reports
• Ideal for monitoring: e.g., plant OEE, downtime, quality, inventory levels
• Highly visual and interactive, but not meant for deep, multi‑page analysis

Power BI Report

• Can contain multiple pages with detailed tables, charts, and filters
• Created in Power BI Desktop, then published to the Service
• Ideal for drill‑down analysis, investigation, and ad‑hoc slicing/dicing
• For example, a detailed report showing downtime by machine, shift, operator, and root cause

In practice, manufacturing teams use reports to explore data and find insights, and dashboards to monitor those insights in real time.

What are the Key Characteristics of a Great BI Dashboard?

Across industries, strong Power BI dashboards tend to share these traits:

• Single‑page, high‑level view of what matters most
• Real‑time or near real‑time data where needed (especially for production)
• Interactive visuals (tiles) with tooltips and cross‑filtering
• Clear KPI definitions so stakeholders know exactly what they’re looking at
• Role‑specific design: tailored for plant managers, supervisors, quality heads, finance, etc.
• Fast performance: loads quickly, even on factory floor devices

How Is Power BI Used?

Power BI consulting services can provide you with insightful, data-driven insights regardless of your level of experience with data in the business sector.

Here are a few applications of the Power BI tool:

Transforming data into a variety of graphics, such as pie charts, gauge charts, ribbon charts, and KPIs.

Connecting several data sources, such as databases and Excel spreadsheets.

Developing dashboards and reports that enable decision-makers to examine intricate data and obtain insights instantly.

Granting data, insights, and data visualization tools to all staff members to promote a data-driven workplace culture.

For manufacturing companies, Power BI goes beyond generic analytics:

Production & operations

• Monitor OEE, throughput, scrap, rework, and downtime in real time
• Compare performance across plants, lines, shifts, and machines
• Analyze bottlenecks and root causes of delays

Quality & compliance

• Track defect rates, FPY (First Pass Yield), and non‑conformance trends
• Compare quality by supplier, material, or line
• Prepare audit‑ready evidence for standards like ISO, FDA, etc.

Inventory & supply chain

• Visualize inventory turnover and aging stock
• Monitor stockouts and overstock situations
• Analyze on‑time delivery, supplier reliability, and lead times

Cost & profitability

• Break down the cost per unit by material, labor, overhead, and scrap
• Compare budget vs actual by plant, product, or customer
• Surface unprofitable SKUs or customers

By centralizing these metrics in well‑designed Power BI dashboards, manufacturing teams move from reactive firefighting to proactive, data‑driven decision‑making.

How Can Power BI Reports and Dashboards Be Shared Using Microsoft Teams?

You need to follow the steps below while sharing Power BI dashboards and reports:

• Go to your report or dashboard. Use your login information to log in to Power BI.
• Tap “Share”. In the dialog box to open, there will be multiple options for sharing. Look for the Microsoft Teams item.
• Choose the channel or team to which you want to share your dashboard or report in the Microsoft Teams, sharing dialog box. By including a message, you can also bring more context to your communication.
• Click on the “Share” button to conclude the process.

What Makes a Great Power BI Dashboard?

The Power BI dashboard should be easy to understand and useful. There are numerous ways to measure a Power BI dashboard.

The following are the essential qualities of an excellent Power BI dashboard:

Use a grid layout When you use a grid style, it will not only boost productivity while making the dashboards but also allow people to use a logical path. By making use of a grid structure, you allow your audience to explore the dashboards.

Aesthetics are important Most importantly, a dashboard must be User-friendly. However, a dashboard’s appeal or lack thereof can drive the popularity of this component. As a rule of thumb, the color and font on the dashboard shouldn’t be more than one of each. Note that you can use colors creatively to guide viewers through your dashboard.

Fast load time The load time of the dashboard is a very important factor that influences the acceptance of almost any modern electronic application. Even though a dashboard matches all the requirements, no one will use it when it has a long wait time. Good use of data integrity through the use of database views, nullifying clutter, and achieving a healthy mix of over-sophistication and simplicity are all excellent ways to reduce load speeds.

Design for specific roles and decisions:

A dashboard for a plant manager is not the same as one for a CFO. Great dashboards:

• Focus on the decisions each role needs to make
• Show only the 5–10 most important KPIs for that role
• Provide clear drill‑through paths when deeper analysis is required

Highlight manufacturing‑critical KPIs For manufacturing, strong dashboards prioritize:

• OEE and uptime vs downtime
• Production volume and throughput
• Defect and scrap rates
• Inventory levels and stockouts
• Cost per unit and budget variance
• Supplier performance and on‑time delivery

These should be visually prominent (gauges, scorecards, trend lines) rather than buried in tables.

Use interactivity and filters wisely Interactive dashboards let users:

• Filter by plant, production line, shift, product family, or customer
• Drill down from plant → line → machine → batch
• Toggle between time horizons (shift, day, week, month, quarter)

Keep slicers and filters intuitive and minimal — enough flexibility without overwhelming the user.

Ensure reliable, timely data refresh

For production monitoring, stale data is dangerous. Great dashboards:

• Use appropriate refresh strategies (DirectQuery or frequent scheduled refreshes)
• Clearly indicate the last refresh time
• Are built on clean, validated data models

Avoid common mistakes

• Overloading the screen with too many charts
• Inconsistent color usage (red/green meanings)
• Ambiguous KPIs (no formula or definition)
• Ignoring mobile users (plant managers often check dashboards on tablets/phones)

Top Dashboard Examples for the Manufacturing Industry

1. Manufacturing Analytics Dashboard

The manufacturing analytics dashboard is designed to facilitate monitoring and evaluation of various aspects of the production process, spotting areas for improvement, and use of data-guided decisions.

It can display production numbers, resource use, machine failures, and quality-check parameters. This dashboard helps inform relevant staff about potential equipment failures. Furthermore, proactive maintenance, which reduces unscheduled downtime and increases OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), is also promoted.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
• Production Rate (Units/hour, units/shift)
• Planned vs unplanned downtime
• Defect rate/scrap%
• First-Pass Yield (FPY)
• Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) / Mean Time to Repair (MTTR)

Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/powerplatform/products/power-bi/industry/manufacturing

2. Supplier Quality Dashboard

A Supplier Quality dashboard helps manufacturers monitor the quality performance of raw materials and components coming from different suppliers.

It can show defect rates by supplier, material, plant, and time period, as well as the impact of supplier issues on scrap, rework, and downtime. This allows procurement and quality teams to hold suppliers accountable, renegotiate contracts, or switch vendors when necessary.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Defect rate by supplier and material
• Incoming inspection pass/fail rates
• Downtime minutes caused by supplier quality issues
• Supplier quality score (composite index)
• Cost of poor quality (COPQ) attributable to suppliers

Source: https://www.slidegeeks.com/powerpoint/Supplier-Quality-Dashboard

3. Inventory Analysis Dashboard

Proper inventory management is of crucial importance for ensuring optimum maintenance of supplies and products and ultimately peak performance.

A dashboard of inventory allows you to see more of your stock performances, making it easier for you to manage stock efficiently. You can see the top 5 products that were viewed the most, the least, and the unviewed ones on this board. Additionally, this dashboard’s forecasting of stock availability defines replenishment based on variations in markdown across fulfillment cycles.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Inventory levels by plant, warehouse, and location
• Inventory Turnover and Days Inventory Outstanding (DIO)
• Stockouts and backorders
• Aging inventory and obsolete stock
• Safety stock vs actual stock
• Reorder points and lead times

Source: https://globaldata365.com/inventory-dashboard/

4. Procurement & Vendor Analysis Dashboard

A Procurement & Vendor Analysis dashboard gives a consolidated view of spend, performance, and risk across suppliers.

It helps purchasing and operations teams monitor total spend, price trends, early‑payment discounts, and on‑time delivery rates. In manufacturing, this is critical to avoid material shortages and cost overruns.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Total spend by supplier, category, and plant
• On-time delivery%
• Average lead times and variability
• Purchase price variance (PPV)
• Discount utilization and savings
• Supplier risk or scorecard index

Source: https://nextgentemplates.com/product/procurement-dashboard-in-excel/

5. Money Management Dashboard

Using this dashboard, which shows you your overall income and spending, you can manage your money efficiently. To track relevant financial indicators such as growth rates, profitability, costs, cash flow, and revenue, you can use its ability to aggregate data from several sources such as market data, sales records, and accounting systems. Assisting you in improving your forecasting, budgeting, and planning processes is what a Money Management Dashboard does. This technology can help businesses minimize risks, both open and hidden ones, promote growth, as well as facilitate cash flow management.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Revenue and margin by product, plant, and customer
• Cost per unit (material, labor, overhead, scrap)
• Budget vs actuals by cost center or plant
• Variance analysis (volume, price, mix)
• Profitability by line, SKU, and customer segment

Source: https://intellifysolutions.com/data-visualization-gallery/manufacturing-analytics-dashboard/

6. Cost Optimization Dashboard

A Cost Optimization dashboard focuses specifically on identifying and reducing unnecessary costs in manufacturing operations.

It brings together cost per unit, scrap, rework, energy consumption, and overtime data, helping operations and finance teams see exactly where money is being lost — and where to improve.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Cost per unit by line, plant, and product
• Scrap and rework cost
• Energy consumption per batch or unit produced
• Overtime hours and cost
• Maintenance spend vs budget
• Savings from improvement initiatives (Kaizen, Lean, Six Sigma)

Source: https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws-cloud-financial-management/a-detailed-overview-of-the-cost-intelli…

7. Logistics Warehouse Dashboard

This comprehensive solution enables visibility and administration of all areas of warehouse operations. It usually includes interactive graphs, tables, and charts that show important data such as worker utilization, inbound and outbound shipments, and inventory levels. These details can help you discover areas for improvement and manage resources more efficiently.

The logistics warehouse dashboard also includes advanced capabilities such as machine learning algorithms, which can aid in proactive planning and forecasting to reduce the risk of excess inventory or stockouts. This dashboard can also be integrated with ERP and warehouse management systems.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Inbound and outbound shipment volumes
• Dock‑to‑stock time
• Picking accuracy and order cycle time
• Warehouse space utilization
• On‑time shipping %
• Freight cost per unit shipped

Source: https://www.datapine.com/dashboard-examples-and-templates/logistics

8. Marketing Campaign Performance Dashboard

This dashboard provides you with a detailed overview of the impact and effectiveness of the marketing campaigns of the company. It contains information that may be used to study market trends and pinpoint high-performing campaigns, such as cost per acquisition (CPA), return on investment (ROI), impressions, and conversions. This dashboard can offer insightful data on campaign reach and conversion rates on many channels, including social media and email marketing.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Campaign spend vs pipeline/revenue generated
• Cost per lead (CPL) and cost per acquisition (CPA)
• Conversion rates by channel and campaign
• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) and Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)
• ROI by campaign and product line

Source: https://www.slideteam.net/marketing-campaign-performance-kpi-dashboard.html

9. HR Dashboard

In whichever industry you are in, human relations are very important. Employees are the ones who put effort into the company and help grow the organization. With the help of this technology, HR may access a central repository of staff management metrics and data.

To provide insightful data, the dashboard pulls data from several sources, such as payroll software, HR systems, and performance management tools. Personnel who need to know can quickly examine vital employee data thanks to the HR dashboard. To have a better understanding of the makeup of the workforce, they can monitor employee demographics such as age, gender, and tenure.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Headcount and turnover by plant, line, and shift
• Absenteeism and overtime rates
• Safety training completion
• Skill and certification coverage by line
• Time‑to‑hire and recruitment funnel metrics

Source: https://www.geckoboard.com/dashboard-examples/hr/

10. Sales Scoreboard Dashboard

Sales – the driving force of every company, is the most crucial department of every organization. There is also a Power BI dashboard for sales, and it is named- ‘sales scoreboard dashboard’.

Businesses track sales for various reasons but due to a lot of raw data, it becomes difficult to track the key metrics. This Power BI dashboard has many features that help in improving sales performance tracking & analysis.

The sales scoreboard dashboard can combine data into a single, smooth interface by displaying data from several systems, financial tools, CRM systems, and marketing platforms. You can stay motivated and focused by setting business goals and tracking your progress in real-time.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Bookings, billings, and backlog
• Sales by product, region, and channel
• Win/loss rates and pipeline stages
• Quote‑to‑order conversion
• Average selling price and discount levels

Source: https://www.growexx.com/case-study/sales-intelligence-and-customer-acquisition-journey-for-a-leading-chemical-manufacturer/

11. Financial Analytics Dashboard

Finances are very important for any company, thus managing finances becomes very crucial. The financial analytics dashboard gives an overview of the total expenses and income, which allows you to look at your finances.

You may track important financial indicators including growth rates, profitability, costs, cash flow, and revenue by using the data it aggregates from multiple sources, including market data, sales records, and accounting systems. You may improve your forecasting, budgeting, and planning procedures using a Financial Analytics Dashboard. Businesses may reduce risks, enhance growth, and optimize financial processes with the help of this technology.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• P&L by plant, product, and region
• Cash flow trends
• Working capital metrics (DSO, DPO, DIO)
• CAPEX vs OPEX tracking
• Profitability by customer and product mix

Source: https://www.geckoboard.com/dashboard-examples/finance/

12. Social Media Monitoring & Analytics Dashboard

In the current era, social media marketing is a very important marketing strategy for the business. This dashboard gives you deep insights into social media sentiments, reach, mentions, etc.

Businesses can use this dashboard to manage branding, develop user-friendly marketing techniques, increase revenues, and comprehend users. This dashboard also includes capabilities that can help you improve your company’s online visibility, such as sentiment research, influencer tracking, campaign performance evaluation, and content performance tracking.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Reach, impressions, and engagement
• Click‑through rate (CTR) by post and platform
• Sentiment analysis over time
• Leads generated from social channels
• Top performing content by product line

Source: https://www.klipfolio.com/resources/dashboard-examples/social-media

13. Customer Segmentation Dashboard

Using the customer segmentation dashboard, you can divide your clientele into various groups based on particular actions.

This power BI dashboard makes use of data analysis techniques to detect patterns and categorize customers into segments that have similar characteristics.

The Power BI dashboard also includes several visualizations that show segmentation criteria such as psychographic qualities, consumer preferences, purchase history, geographic location, and demographics. By using this data, you can better understand the needs, preferences, and behaviors of each consumer category and adjust your product offerings and marketing tactics to match their demands better.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Segments by industry, size, region, product mix
• Revenue and margin contribution by segment
• Average order value and purchase frequency
• Churn risk by segment
• Upsell/cross‑sell potential

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerBI/comments/16xp47n/customer_segmentation_dashboard/

14. Customer Profitability Dashboard

A Customer Profitability dashboard shows which customers or segments actually drive profit, not just revenue.

For manufacturers with large B2B portfolios, this helps sales and leadership focus on high‑value relationships, reprice unprofitable ones, or adjust service levels accordingly.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• Gross margin per customer and per segment
• Cost‑to‑serve (logistics, support, payment terms)
• Return rate and service cost
• Lifetime value (LTV) and churn risk
• Profitability ranking across customers

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/power-bi/create-reports/sample-customer-profitability

15. Executive / Balanced Scorecard Dashboard

An Executive or Balanced Scorecard dashboard provides plant directors and the C-suite a holistic, high‑level view of business health across the financial, operational, customer, and people dimensions.

For manufacturing, this is typically the “one‑page view” leadership checks daily or weekly.

Key manufacturing metrics to track:

• OEE and production output vs targets
• Revenue, gross margin, and cost per unit
• Defect rate and customer complaints
• On‑time delivery %, supplier quality score
• Safety incidents (LTIFR, TRIR)
• Strategic project status (e.g., capacity expansion, automation projects)

Source: https://slidemodel.com/templates/balanced-scorecard-indicators-dashboard/

How to Build a Power BI Manufacturing Dashboard (Step‑by‑Step)

Building a Power BI manufacturing dashboard involves defining the audiences and goals (problems you must solve), identifying the 5-10 critical KPIs, connecting to your data sources like ERP, and MES, and IoT devices, modeling and cleaning the data, designing visuals (cards, charts, etc.), adding interactivity, and publishing the report to the Power BI source.

1. Define & plan

Define and plan your audiences, problem statements, and goals you want to achieve with a Power BI manufacturing dashboard. Further, identify the 5–10 critical KPIs you must track. Involve operators/supervisors in deciding these.

2. Connect data across multiple systems and prepare it

• Use “Get Data” in Power BI to connect to your data sources, such as ERP (e.g., SAP, Oracle), MES, quality systems, etc., to pull data from them.
• Create relations between tables (production, quality, inventory, finance) to model your data.
• Build DAX measures for metrics, such as OEE, defect rate, and cost per unit.

3. Design & visualization

• Use a grid layout with cards for KPIs (e.g., OEE), trend charts, and breakdown bar charts (by machine/product).
• Arrange your data logically, with critical KPIs at the top, trends in the middle, and breakdowns and details at the bottom. You can reserve the left or right side for filters (plant, line, shift, or product).
• Apply the “5-second rule” to determine whether your users can access and understand the information instantly. For interactivity, add slicers (data, machine ID, shift) for filtering.

4. Publish, secure, and iterate

• Once you create your report, it’s time to make it public by sharing your report from the Power BI dashboard to the Power BI service.
• Configure row-level security based on individuals’ hierarchical levels. For instance, supervisors can see only their lines, while managers can see all the information. If required, you can seek feedback from users and refine visuals and KPIs

Why GrowExx is the Best Consulting Partner for Your Manufacturing Dashboard Creation?

GrowExx helps manufacturers gain real-time visibility into production performance through purpose-built Power BI dashboards.

We focus on translating manufacturing KPIs into intuitive, decision-ready visuals that support operations, quality, and leadership teams.

A common use case is a Production Performance Dashboard, which helps track efficiency, identify bottlenecks, and compare planned versus actual output—enabling faster, data-driven actions across the shop floor.

What GrowExx’s Power BI development consulting provides:

• End-to-end Power BI dashboard design tailored to manufacturing use cases
• Advanced data modeling to support accurate and scalable reporting
• Interactive visuals for tracking OEE, downtime, scrap, and throughput
• Role-based dashboards for operations, plant managers, and executives
• Dashboard optimization and ongoing enhancements as business needs evolve

FAQ: Power BI Dashboards for Manufacturing

Final Thoughts & Next Steps

The manufacturing space is highly competitive, and to stay ahead in this industry, it takes more than just keeping pace. The Power BI dashboard examples for manufacturing discussed above help you make data-driven decisions that keep you ahead of your competitors.

With the right combination of production, quality, inventory, cost, procurement, and executive dashboards, Power BI becomes your central nervous system for manufacturing — surfacing issues early, highlighting opportunities, and aligning every team around the same KPIs.

If you’re just starting, begin with:

• A Manufacturing Analytics Dashboard (OEE, downtime, throughput)
• A Supplier Quality Dashboard (defects, downtime, COPQ)
• A Cost Optimization Dashboard (cost per unit, scrap, energy)
• An Executive Scorecard (big‑picture view for leadership)

From there, expand into inventory, procurement, customer profitability, and HR as your data foundation matures.