95% Faster Reporting of Downtime at Multi-Plant Manufacturer Using Microsoft Fabric
Ray Business Technologies helped a multi-plant North American manufacturer unify downtime data with Microsoft Fabric cutting reporting time by 95%, reducing unplanned stops by 20% and delivering ROI in under six months.
Challenges
The manufacturer lacked real-time insight into asset performance across plants. Downtime and incident data was delayed, inconsistent, and reactive, preventing leadership from identifying failure patterns or acting quickly to reduce production losses.
Without standardized downtime tracking, plant teams relied on historical reports rather than live intelligence. This resulted in delayed decisions, prolonged outages, and limited ability to compare performance across plants, lines, or machines.
Critical downtime data was scattered across CMMS, MES, and manual spreadsheets, each using different definitions. Teams spent hours reconciling numbers, reducing trust in KPIs such as availability, MTBF, and incident rates.
These disconnected systems created data silos that slowed analysis and increased manual errors. Operations teams focused more on validating data than resolving shop-floor issues, directly impacting productivity and operational efficiency.
Business users had limited self-service analytics capabilities and depended heavily on IT teams for reports. Ad-hoc reporting requests created long queues, delaying operational decisions when speed was critical.
Executives and plant managers lacked confidence in the data they received. Without governed metrics and intuitive access, analytics adoption remained low, and insights failed to translate into timely corrective actions.
The manufacturer lacked real-time insight into asset performance across plants. Downtime and incident data was delayed, inconsistent, and reactive, preventing leadership from identifying failure patterns or acting quickly to reduce production losses.
Without standardized downtime tracking, plant teams relied on historical reports rather than live intelligence. This resulted in delayed decisions, prolonged outages, and limited ability to compare performance across plants, lines, or machines.
Critical downtime data was scattered across CMMS, MES, and manual spreadsheets, each using different definitions. Teams spent hours reconciling numbers, reducing trust in KPIs such as availability, MTBF, and incident rates.
These disconnected systems created data silos that slowed analysis and increased manual errors. Operations teams focused more on validating data than resolving shop-floor issues, directly impacting productivity and operational efficiency.
Business users had limited self-service analytics capabilities and depended heavily on IT teams for reports. Ad-hoc reporting requests created long queues, delaying operational decisions when speed was critical.
Executives and plant managers lacked confidence in the data they received. Without governed metrics and intuitive access, analytics adoption remained low, and insights failed to translate into timely corrective actions.
Solutions Implemented
Automated Data Ingestion with Data Factory
Implemented scheduled, zero-maintenance pipelines that reduced manual reconciliation and cut data errors by 90%.
Unified OneLake Data Foundation
Centralized CMMS, MES, and spreadsheet data into Microsoft Fabric OneLake to eliminate silos and create a single source of truth.
Enterprise-Grade Security & Governance
Applied RBAC, lineage tracking, and secure access controls to scale analytics safely across multiple plants.
Role-Based Power BI Dashboards
Delivered interactive dashboards with drill-downs by shift, product, and cause code for faster root-cause analysis.
Conversational Analytics with Copilot
Enabled natural-language queries so leaders could ask questions and get instant answers without IT dependency.
Governed Semantic Layer
Standardized downtime definitions across plant, line, and machine levels to ensure consistent, trusted KPIs enterprise-wide.
Ray Business Technologies – Microsoft Fabric Expert Services
Business Benefits
By implementing Microsoft Fabric, the manufacturer transformed operational analytics into measurable ROI. Real-time visibility, governed metrics, and self-service insights enabled faster decisions, reduced downtime, optimized labor costs, and delivered full payback within months—not years.
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95% Faster Reporting
Reduced report preparation time from six hours to under one minute, freeing teams to focus on operations.
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20% Fewer Unplanned Stops
Standardized downtime analysis enabled faster root-cause identification and proactive issue resolution.
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10–15% Lower Overtime Costs
Real-time insights helped control overtime and improve workforce utilization across plants.
Why Choose Ray Business Technologies
Ray Business Technologies combines deep manufacturing domain knowledge with Microsoft Fabric expertise to deliver governed, scalable analytics that drive real operational ROI. Our approach replaces fragmented reporting with trusted, decision-ready insights—quickly, securely, and at enterprise scale.
Proven Manufacturing Analytics Expertise
Deep experience modernizing analytics for multi-plant manufacturing environments using Microsoft Fabric.
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Business-First, ROI-Driven Delivery
Every solution is tied directly to measurable operational and financial outcomes.
Governed, Scalable Architecture
Built secure, enterprise-ready analytics platforms that scale across regions and plants.
Faster Time-to-Value
Delivered full ROI in 3–6 months by replacing fragmented BI with a unified Fabric ecosystem.
Want to achieve similar results in your manufacturing operations?
See how Microsoft Fabric delivered 95% faster reporting and measurable ROI in months—not years.
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