What is a Supply Chain Dashboard? Key Metrics and How to Build One

Supply chain visibility is one of the highest-ROI applications of business intelligence — identifying delays, stockouts, and cost overruns before they escalate into operational failures or lost customers.

A supply chain dashboard centralises data from procurement systems, warehouses, logistics providers, and ERP systems into a single, actionable view.

What a Supply Chain Dashboard Tracks

Procurement and Purchasing

• Purchase orders created vs received (open POs aging report) — e.g., 45 open POs worth ₹62 lakh
• Vendor lead time performance vs promised
• Purchase cost variance (actual vs budgeted)
• Supplier compliance rate (orders delivered on-time, in-full)

Inventory Management

• Stock levels by product, warehouse, and location
• Days of supply remaining for each SKU — e.g., 12 items below 5-day supply
• Stockout alerts and low-stock warnings
• Slow-moving and excess inventory by value — e.g., ₹35 lakh in 90+ day excess stock
• Inventory turnover ratio

Inbound Logistics

• Shipments in transit and expected arrival dates
• Customs clearance status (for import-dependent businesses)
• Demurrage and delay costs
• Inbound quality rejection rates

Outbound Fulfillment

• Order fill rate (% of orders fulfilled completely)
• Perfect order rate (on-time, complete, undamaged, correct documentation) — target 95%+
• Dispatch-to-delivery time by carrier and route
• Returns rate by reason

Supplier Performance

• On-time delivery percentage by supplier — e.g., Supplier A: 94%, Supplier B: 78%
• Order accuracy rate by supplier
• Lead time consistency (variance in promised vs actual)
• Cost of poor quality by supplier

Supply Chain Dashboard for Indian Businesses

Indian supply chains have specific characteristics that require customised dashboard design:

Multi-tier distribution: India's distribution system often has 3–4 tiers (manufacturer → C&F → distributor → retailer). A supply chain dashboard should track each tier's inventory and movement separately.

Seasonal demand patterns: Indian businesses have large seasonal swings (Diwali, end-of-year, agricultural cycles). Dashboards should show forecasted demand alongside current inventory to prevent seasonal stockouts.

Multiple modes and carriers: Indian logistics involves rail, road, courier, and ocean freight with different tracking systems. Dashboard consolidation across carriers is essential.

Tally integration: For manufacturers and distributors, Tally holds the accounting records of purchases and sales. A supply chain dashboard connected to Tally gives full financial visibility alongside operational data.

Example: An Ahmedabad-based textile manufacturer with 120 suppliers and ₹40 crore annual procurement uses FireAI to track supplier OTIF rates (currently averaging 82% — targeting 92%), flag ₹28 lakh in overdue POs, and monitor inventory worth ₹5 crore across 3 warehouses — all pulled live from Tally and their WMS.

How to Build a Supply Chain Dashboard with FireAI

1. Connect Tally and your data sources — FireAI's native Tally connector pulls purchase vouchers, stock data, sales orders, and party ledgers automatically; 250+ additional connectors for WMS, logistics APIs, and databases
2. Start with a pre-built supply chain template — includes procurement tracker, inventory health, supplier scorecard, and fulfillment rate cards
3. Ask in plain language — type "कौन से suppliers late delivery कर रहे हैं?" or "Show inventory days of supply below 7 by warehouse" using NLQ in Hindi or English
4. Set smart alerts — get notified when supplier OTIF drops below 85%, inventory hits reorder point, or PO aging exceeds 15 days
5. Share role-based views — procurement managers see supplier performance; warehouse teams see inventory health; leadership sees cost and fill rate summaries

Starts at ₹4,999/month with zero-code setup — no BI developer or SQL needed.