Tantalus saves days of report building with Klipfolio

Tantalus provides Smart Grid communications technology that enables electric, gas, and water utilities to optimize their resources by automating monitoring and control processes, improving operational efficiency, and delivering the information utilities and consumers need to manage energy intelligently and cost-effectively.

The reporting problem: days lost to manual Jira exports

The load management operations team at Tantalus had a manual process in place for executive reporting. It worked, but it came with real costs.

The team needed to track, analyze, and report on data from multiple sources nested in Jira, covering shipments, returns, and support tickets. The process started with exporting Jira data into Excel, manipulating it, building custom graphs, and hand-delivering reports at monthly senior management meetings.

Straightforward in theory. Exhausting in practice.

"When you download data from Jira, it's very tedious, like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I'd have to sift through a pile of data and identify specific columns to pull into a spreadsheet. Once the data was exported into Excel, I would then have to work tediously with the grouping and filtering functions in order to generate graphs for our executive reports."

Jira holds a lot of granular data. In some cases, tens of thousands of rows. The team only needed a select few major silos of that data, but every month meant downloading massive spreadsheets and digging through them manually. It would typically take days to build one monthly report.

Change was in order.

Mapping out a new data strategy

The team heard about Klipfolio through their network. The goal was to streamline Tantalus' reporting, and it was clear from the start that Klipfolio could help.

They already had a clear picture of what they wanted to accomplish with a new dashboard reporting tool, but needed help turning that logic into a working reporting solution.

"Klipfolio Data Heroes have been a massive help, they are awesome!"

Working with a Klipfolio Data Hero, the team explained the logic and details behind their reporting requirements. Together, they mapped out a strategy and built the foundation for a streamlined reporting setup.

Pro-tip: Before building in Klipfolio, get clear on your team's most important metrics and where the data that feeds those metrics lives. That clarity makes everything else faster.

The 'Big Three' load management operations metrics: returns, product quality, and customer data

The team organized their reporting around three core categories.

In the 'Returns' category:

1. Number of returns received per month
2. Number of returns processed per month
3. Return backlog

In the 'Product Quality' category:

1. Return rate
2. Failure rate
3. Percentage of products in and out of warranty
4. Primary reasons why a product failed while in warranty

In the 'Customer Data' category:

1. Top customers generating returns
2. Top customers in backlog

Product quality data is tracked in both cumulative and rolling twelve-month periods to give executives a complete picture.

Building a company-wide reporting solution

With the strategy in place, the day-to-day process became much simpler. Now, the team exports a couple of spreadsheets once a month and connects them to Klipfolio.

"Because our Jira system is offline and on-premise for security reasons, reporting still requires a bit of manual work. However, now our reporting is completed in hours instead of days. Klipfolio has made the difference."

The impact reached beyond one team. Other department leads at Tantalus got interested in building their own Klips to monitor their own unique metrics. What started as an executive reporting fix became a company-wide shift in how people engage with data.

"Our Klipfolio dashboards inspire action. We look at our metrics cross-departmentally and discuss ways to improve in tandem. Our dashboards have even helped us identify areas of improvement that weren't on our radar before."

Sharing data that impacts decisions

The dashboards are shared primarily with the senior executive review team using password-protected links, giving anyone with access the ability to view the data from anywhere, at any time. R&D and manufacturing teams also review the dashboards regularly.

During weekly team meetings, a dashboard goes up on screen and the whole team reviews it together over video conference. The numbers are consistent, reliable, and ready, so the conversation can focus on what to do next, not on whether the data is right.

"Klipfolio provides us with actionable insights in real-time. Our data guides us towards better decision making on the fly. By looking at the data displayed in our dashboards, we have found ways to double our return processing rate!"

Teams can see how they are progressing in real time. That visibility has motivated faster turnarounds and sharper accountability across departments.

"Our reports don't just look good, it's more than that. Klipfolio provides our executives with the metrics that matter most while keeping our various teams motivated and productive."

Better decisions, backed by reliable data

Sharing dashboards with the executive team has earned praise from the C-suite and from department leads alike. When leaders started breaking the data down, they were able to action sales and project management changes that benefited the whole company.

Decision-making backed by consistent, visible data has increased transparency into processing issues and helped Tantalus fix problems that were previously going unnoticed.

"My favorite aspect of Klipfolio is its power and flexibility. More specifically, I love the filters and selectors. Being able to construct a dashboard with logic makes a huge difference."

Work life at Tantalus

Tantalus has roughly 150 employees, with headquarters in Vancouver and a smaller Ottawa office of around 20 people. The Ottawa crew has grown close, with monthly social events, summer BBQs, and winter pizza nights keeping the team connected.

Company-wide quarterly town halls keep everyone updated on overall company status and direction.

Parting advice for teams new to Klipfolio

"Figure out the graphs you want to visualize using all the tools and data sources you've got and bring it to a Klipfolio Data Hero. It's a massive first step that streamlines your dashboard reporting launch. They will be able to help you turn your ideas into reality."