Analytics: How to Use the Logistics Pro Management Dashboard

Overview

The Management Dashboard is a cross-divisional analytics tool designed for executives and senior managers who need to understand company-wide performance through KPIs, not just raw data. Unlike operational dashboards that show "how many jobs" or "how much revenue," this dashboard helps you answer strategic questions like "which divisions are most efficient?" or "where are we seeing the highest reversal rates?"

Think of it as a pre-built KPI machine — you can instantly segment, filter, and compare performance across any dimension in your logistics operation without exporting data to Excel or other tools

Key Features

1. High-Level KPI Cards

At the top of the dashboard, you'll see summary metrics that update based on your filters:

• Transactions: Total number of jobs/orders in the selected period

• Revenue: Total invoiced revenue (with fuel revenue breakdown)

• Avg Days to Invoice: How long it takes to invoice after job completion

• Reversal Rate: Percentage of jobs that get reversed/cancelled

• Date Range: Displays the current time period you're analyzing

These cards give you an at-a-glance health check before diving deeper.

2. Dynamic KPI Builder (The Power Feature)

This is where the dashboard shines. You have three interactive charts — a line chart, bar chart, and donut chart — that all respond to three dropdown selectors:

Category (What to group by)

Choose what dimension you want to analyze:

• Resource (vessel, vehicle, equipment)

• Trip Type (arrivals, departures, charters)

• Billing Type (base rate, fuel surcharge, overtime)

• Area (geographic region)

• Customer Account

• Division

• Contract Name

• Ship Type

KPI (What to measure)

Select the performance metric you want to track:

• Revenue

• Number of jobs invoiced

• Number of orders

• Number of trips

• Revenue per Job

• Revenue per trip

• Duration per job (hours)

• Revenue per hour

• Reversal amount

• Rate of reversal

• Fuel Price

• Billing Type Comparison

Break By (How to slice it)

Choose how to segment your data across the charts:

• None (overall totals)

• Resource

• Trip Type

• Billing Type

• Area

• Customer Account

• Division

• Contract Name

• Ship Type

3. How the Charts Work Together

All three charts update simultaneously based on your selections:

• Line Chart: Shows trends over time (quarterly view in images)

• Bar Chart (Dynamic Distribution): Shows comparison across your selected category

• Donut Chart (Dynamic Distribution %): Shows percentage breakdown

Example 1: You select:

• Category: Division

• KPI: Rate of Reversal

• Break By: Division

Result: You'll see which divisions have the highest cancellation rates, how that's trending over time, and what percentage each division contributes to overall reversals.

Example 2: You select:

• Category: Customer Account

• KPI: Revenue

• Break By: Contract Name

Result: You'll see revenue by customer, broken down by which contracts are generating that revenue, with trends showing if customer spend is growing or shrinking quarter-over-quarter.

4. Jobs Pivot Table (Custom Analysis)

Below the main charts, you have a live pivot table that acts like an advanced reporting tool built directly into the dashboard.

How to use it:

1. Click "Select Data" to choose KPIs (you can select multiple):

   • Net Revenue

   • Revenue Per Trip

   • Average Trip Duration

   • Days to Invoice

   • Average Jobs Per Trip

   • Rate of Reversal

   • And more...

2. Use the "Select Rows/Columns" dropdown to build your table:

   • Drag Division to rows and Company to columns

   • The table will show you revenue broken down by division and customer

   • You can swap these around to see different views

Example Use Case: You want to compare "Days to Invoice" across divisions and companies.

• Select Data: Days to Invoice

• Rows: Division

• Columns: Company

• Result: You instantly see which customers take longest to invoice in which divisions (e.g., IT Maritime Systems averages 2.88 days for Company Name 11)

This replaces the need to export raw data to Excel and build pivot tables manually.

5. Billing Type Analysis (Revenue Breakdown)

The bottom-left chart shows a stacked area chart of revenue over time, broken down by billing components:

• Bareboat Charter

• Base Rate

• Charter Day Rate

• Discount (shown as negative)

• Fuel Charge

• Fuel Surcharge

• GRT Fee

• Overtime

• Security Charge

• Turning Fee

Use this to:

• Understand which revenue streams are growing or declining

• Spot if fuel surcharges are offsetting base rate discounts

• See if overtime is becoming a larger portion of revenue (which might indicate capacity issues)

Example: In the image, you can see Base Rate (orange) is the dominant revenue source at ~$794K-$1.86M per month, while fuel charges and discounts fluctuate significantly month-to-month.

6. Top 15 Customers - Revenue Per Hour

The bottom-right scatter plot shows your most valuable customers based on:

• X-axis: Number of jobs (volume)

• Y-axis: Revenue per hour (efficiency/profitability)

• Bubble size: Total revenue

How to read it:

• Top-right quadrant = High volume + high revenue/hour = Your best customers (e.g., Name 13 at 2.74K revenue/hour)

• Bottom-right quadrant = High volume but low revenue/hour = Operational customers, may need pricing review

• Top-left quadrant = Low volume but high revenue/hour = Premium/charter customers worth nurturing

Example: Name 13 (yellow bubble) generates $2,740 per hour across ~70 jobs — a highly profitable customer. Meanwhile, Name 8 (blue bubble at bottom) has high volume (~140 jobs) but only generates $542.88 per hour — you might want to investigate why this customer's jobs are less profitable.

Filters

The right-hand Filters panel lets you narrow your entire dashboard view:

• Trip Start Date / This & Last 11 Months: Time range selector

• Division: Filter to specific business units

• Name: Filter to specific customers

• Company: Filter to customer companies

• Ship Type: Filter by vessel category

• Trip Type: Filter by job type (arrivals, departures, etc.)

• Resource: Filter to specific vessels/equipment

Pro Tip: These filters are global — they affect all charts, KPIs, and the pivot table simultaneously. Use them to create focused views like "Show me only Charter jobs in the Vancouver division for Q4 2025."

Common Use Cases

Use Case 1: Identify Problem Divisions

Goal: Find which divisions have the highest reversal rates

Steps:

1. Set Category: Division

2. Set KPI: Rate of Reversal

3. Set Break By: Division

4. Review the bar chart and line chart

Result: You'll see IT Maritime Systems has a 5.3% reversal rate while Training & Certification has 2.4% — now you can investigate why IT Maritime has more cancellations.

Use Case 2: Customer Profitability Analysis

Goal: Determine which customers are most profitable per job

Steps:

1. Set Category: Customer Account

2. Set KPI: Revenue

3. Set Break By: Contract Name

4. Look at the pivot table and scatter plot

Result: You'll see total revenue by customer, but also revenue-per-hour efficiency in the scatter plot. This helps you prioritize which customers to focus retention efforts on.

Use Case 3: Compare Division Performance

Goal: Benchmark divisions against each other on days-to-invoice

Steps:

1. Open the Jobs Pivot table

2. Select Data: Days to Invoice

3. Rows: Division

4. Columns: Company

Result: You get a heat map showing which divisions are fastest at invoicing which customers — great for identifying best practices to replicate.

Use Case 4: Seasonal Revenue Trends

Goal: Understand if revenue dips are seasonal or structural

Steps:

1. Set time period to "This & Last 11 Months" (or longer)

2. Set Category: Division

3. Set KPI: Revenue

4. Review the line chart in quarterly view

Result: You'll see if revenue dips in certain quarters (e.g., winter vs summer) across all divisions or just specific ones — helping you forecast more accurately.

Use Case 5: Billing Mix Optimization

Goal: See if discounts are eroding margin

Steps:

1. Scroll to the Billing Type Analysis chart

2. Toggle between Monthly/Quarterly view

3. Look at the relationship between Base Rate (orange) and Discount (light blue negative bars)

Result: If discount layers are growing while base rates shrink, you may need to revisit pricing strategy. In the example image, discounts range from -$15K to -$153K — significant variation worth investigating.

Tips for Effective Use

1. Start broad, then narrow: Begin with high-level KPI cards, then use the dynamic charts to drill into specific issues.

2. Combine filters strategically: Don't just look at "all divisions" — try filtering to one trip type across all divisions, or one customer across all contracts.

3. Use the pivot table for exports: While the charts are great for visualization, the pivot table gives you the exact numbers you need for reports or presentations.

4. Compare time periods: The line charts show "This Year" vs "Last Year" — always check if changes are improvements or declines relative to last year.

5. Watch for outliers: In the scatter plot, look for customers that are far from the cluster — these are either exceptional opportunities or problem accounts.

6. Save your favorite views: If you frequently analyze "Revenue by Division for Charter jobs," set those filters and bookmark the dashboard state.

Notes on the Data

• Currently loads: Current Fiscal Year and Previous Fiscal Year

• Division filters: Apply automatically based on your Helm CONNECT assignment (if you're a regional manager, you'll see your assigned divisions)

• Time-based comparisons: Charts are date-aware and compare equivalent periods (e.g., Q1 2025 vs Q1 2024)

• Revenue is invoiced: Based on completed jobs, not forecasts or drafts

• Reversal rate: Only includes completed reversals, not pending cancellations

When to Use This Dashboard vs. Others

Notes on the Data Presented

• Currently the dashboard will only load the Current Fiscal Year and Previous Year

• Division filters apply automatically based on your Helm CONNECT assignment. You won’t see other regions’ data unless you have access to them.

• Time-based comparisons are aware of your position in the calendar (e.g., July 21 this year vs July 21 last year), not just full months.

• Revenue is based on invoiced amounts, not forecasts, drafts, or reversals. Similarly, only completed jobs are counted