When I started at Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope (OBE), one of my first major responsibilities was developing their newly established ERP Dashboards. These dashboards were crafted using PHP with a custom-built framework and various third-party plugins. At that time, OBE managed more than 35 metal and glass plants spread across North America, each supported by its own IBM iSeries ERP server handling plant-specific data.

The primary objective of these dashboards was to visually represent diverse data points requested by different levels of leadership within a web based system allowing access to users without needing to directly access the ERP system. We implemented a sophisticated hierarchical structure within the system, enabling all employees to log in to their respective plant dashboards and access authorized data. Additionally, it provided higher-level leadership with broader data visibility, as needed.

The Dashboard was divided into several key sections: Finance, Orders/Quotes, Production, and Shipments. Each section featured pages offering real-time information and a variety of graphs and charts for visual data representation. Nearly all pages allowed users to drill down to specific invoices, providing granular data insights.

Each plant dashboard includes real time data displayed in tiles and pages dedicated to Defects, Raw Material Yields, Bookings, Sales, Accounts Receivable, Credits and Replacements, Variable Spending, Weekly Sales, Product Mix, Customer Satisfaction Index, Operations Report, and Negative Order Item Tracking.

Despite being over a decade old, these dashboards remain in active use, undergoing multiple updates and enhancements over the years, including a recent overhaul highlighted in the "Unified Dashboard" project within my portfolio. The customizability and data aggregation capabilities of these dashboards have proven invaluable, distinguishing them from alternatives like Micro Strategies or Power BI.

When I joined the company, the initial framework for the project was already established. My primary responsibility was to support the system and its diverse user base—our internal 'customers' spanning various levels of the organization. Additionally, I took on the development of new data tiles and their corresponding dashboard pages. Over time, I became the sole developer dedicated to enhancing and expanding the project.

In this role, I not only designed and built the tiles and dashboard pages but also managed their integration with databases, setting up MySQL procedures and views hosted on the iSeries. Collaborating closely with the ERP team, I identified essential data requirements and optimized retrieval methods from within the ERP system to ensure accurate and current data availability. Testing was crucial, involving extensive collaboration to validate calculations and ensure that the PHP-driven displays met specific requirements.

A significant challenge I encountered was reconciling data discrepancies across multiple plants. Despite each plant's ERP system being theoretically identical, variations in local requirements necessitated adjustments to ensure data accuracy and consistency in the displayed information.

Overall, this project was immensely fulfilling. It provided a robust tool that has continued to be essential for the business, supporting monthly reporting needs across all departments. Despite attempts by various 'data' groups over the years to replace these dashboards, our solution has remained unmatched in its effectiveness and usability.

• PHP 5 - 8.3
• TinyButStrong
• HTML5
• CSS3
• Jquery
• Javascript
• Ajax
• XML
• Json
• MySQL
• The IBM iSeries
• Zend Server
• Apache
• LDAP
• HighCharts
• BootStrap
• DataTables