An SME operations team
This SME operations team asked us to replace a breaking spreadsheet process with a custom internal tool, reporting included.
Context
An operations team running a growing part of the business out of a shared spreadsheet that had quietly become mission-critical and dangerously fragile. Everyone knew the risk; nobody had the time to fix it, and every off-the-shelf tool they trialled forced the team to work the tool's way instead of theirs. That kept failing for the same reason: the team's way of working was the value, and each trial flattened it. Meanwhile the risk compounded, with more people making more edits and more chances for an error nobody would notice until it was expensive.
The problem
Too many people editing at once, no audit trail, and errors that only surfaced downstream when they were expensive to fix.
What we built
A custom web app modelled on how the team actually works, with roles, an audit trail, and, because we run a data practice, the management reporting designed in from day one.
The outcome
A process that scales past the spreadsheet's ceiling, far fewer errors, and managers who can see what's happening without asking for a manual export. The team kept the working patterns they already knew, gained the guard rails the spreadsheet never had, and the business gained reporting that updates itself instead of waiting for a month-end copy-paste.