Production Manager in a complex environment? Here’s how Boards on Fire makes a difference

How much of your time as a production manager is spent collecting and compiling key metrics, updating whiteboards with the latest figures, and ensuring that the information is fully accurate before it can be shared across the organization?

As a production manager, you navigate daily at the intersection of people, processes, and goals, where quick decisions and continuous follow-up are part of everyday life. To act effectively, you need a clear picture of the current situation, but when information is spread across whiteboards, notes, and various systems, it becomes difficult to get an accurate overview. Analog methods like these risk creating information gaps, duplicated work, and uncertainty about which data is actually up to date, factors that can  impact production efficiency and results.

In this article, we highlight some of the most common challenges faced by production managers and how they can be addressed using digital tools to make daily operations more efficient.

Common challenges for production managers

Challenges are an inherent part of daily life in production, as in many other professions. In the industrial sector, they are often interconnected and can trigger chain reactions that affect pace, quality, and results. At the same time, it is by managing these challenges that we can grow and continuously improve work processes. Below are some of the most prominent challenges:

1. Limited Visibility into Production Status
   Keeping production on track is a key challenge for many production managers. Without a clear, up-to-date, and shared view of the current situation, priorities can become uncertain, quickly affecting both deliveries and results. Analog systems such as whiteboards and sticky notes, often combined with Excel spreadsheets, rarely provide a real-time overview. When information must be updated manually and is location-bound, issues are often detected only after they have already impacted production.
   
   
2. Inefficient Communication Flows
   Effective communication is crucial for ensuring the smooth functioning of the entire production flow. Without a clear and unified information picture, it becomes difficult to act quickly and make accurate decisions when problems arise, directly affecting deliveries, quality, and results. Analog systems like whiteboards and sticky notes require manual updates and are often location-dependent. This means that important information can easily be missed or arrive too late, complicating decision-making and coordination between teams.
   
   
3. Deviation Management Falling Through the Cracks
   Identifying deviations and implementing improvements is essential to maintaining efficient and competitive production. However, in a daily routine governed by analog systems, any change risks disrupting regular operations. Without a centralized and updated overview, it can be hard to know which processes truly need improvement and which actions will have the greatest impact. For production managers, this leads to extra planning, increased coordination with the team, and a higher risk of implementing changes too late.
   
   
4. Weak Traceability
   When traceability in production is limited, it becomes difficult to track what happened, when it happened, and who was responsible for different parts of the process. For a production manager, this creates multiple challenges, such as weaker decision-making bases, increased risk of errors and deviations, more complex reporting, and time-consuming corrections. In short, weak traceability leads to stress, inefficiency, and higher risk, making it harder for production managers to keep production on track.

Digital Tools that streamline production

In recent years, digital tools have evolved from being mere support systems to becoming a crucial key for production managers who want better control over daily operations. Instead of relying on whiteboards, paper, and manual compilations, all information and processes can now be visualized digitally, ensuring that both managers and teams always have the same up-to-date view of production.

Boards on Fire’s digital solution for daily management consolidates all essential information into easy-to-read digital boards that can be displayed on screens throughout the factory. By visualizing production status in real time, teams gain immediate visibility into deviations, bottlenecks, ongoing activities, and KPIs. This enables proactive action rather than last-minute reactions, reducing the risk of delays and quality issues.

The solution also provides better conditions for continuous improvement. By centralizing historical data, deviations, and actions in one place, it becomes easier to analyze patterns, track results, and implement lessons learned that strengthen the production flow over time. Key metrics are updated automatically in real time, making reporting fast, accurate, and transparent, and providing both management and teams with a reliable basis for decision-making.

In addition to the above, the platform can be connected to other systems via file or API integration. As long as data can be exported to a CSV file and sent through file integration, or transferred to us via API, it can be visualized in Boards on Fire. This means that information from, for example, ERP, CRM, MES, and PLM systems, production systems, management systems, or machinery can be consolidated and presented in Boards on Fire without requiring pre-built standard integrations with each individual system. In this way, the entire production operation gains a unified and up-to-date real-time overview.

But the value goes beyond structure and efficiency. When information is accessible, clear, and shared, engagement within the organization increases. Employees gain a better understanding of the bigger picture, clearer ownership of their tasks, and improved ability to influence outcomes. This fosters a sense of responsibility and more active participation in daily improvement work.

At the same time, modern, digital management signals that the company is at the forefront. It contributes to internal pride and strengthens the brand externally—towards customers, partners, and prospective employees. Working in a structured, data-driven way is perceived as professional, sustainable, and future-proof, offering a clear competitive advantage.

Key Benefits of Boards on Fire:

• Clear overview of the entire production
• Access to KPIs and key metrics in real time
• Efficient communication flows and clearly defined responsibilities
• Structured and traceable deviation management, with deadlines and accountability
• Strengthened continuous improvement efforts
• Centralized storage of all critical documentation and historical data
• Easy integration with other systems

Concrete impacts with Boards on Fire

Today, Boards on Fire is used in over 135 countries, and its reach continues to grow. Here are some clear examples of return on investment (ROI) that our customers have achieved:

• Assa Abloy has freed up 30 hours per week through reduced administrative work using Boards on Fire.
• Scapa, a bed manufacturer, has increased productivity by 60%, and Luni Metall by 25%.
• Bruzaholms in Eksjö has streamlined deviation management by 100%.
• Swecon has freed 7.5 hours per week thanks to improved deviation handling.

Custom boards for every need

Boards on Fire offers flexible digital pulse boards that can easily be tailored to the needs of your organization, regardless of role or function. These boards consolidate production data, key metrics, and improvement initiatives in one place, updated in real time. This provides full visibility, simplifies follow-up, and creates better conditions for data-driven decisions and effective, continuous improvement. Additionally, all data can be aggregated across all organizational levels, enabling fast and well-informed decision-making.

Examples of What You Can Visualize on Your Boards:

• Deviation Management
• Continuous Improvement Initiatives
• Gemba Walks
• Kaizen
• Goals and Results
• PDCA
• 5S
• Takted Flow

No matter where your focus lies, the boards help you deliver the right information to the right person, exactly when it’s needed.

Summary

Production managers face daily challenges such as information gaps, duplicated work, uncertainty around KPIs, and time-consuming manual routines. Boards on Fire consolidates all information in one place and visualizes it on digital boards. These provide both management and employees with real-time visibility into KPIs, deviations, and ongoing activities, making it easy to act proactively.

With automated reporting, traceable deviation management, and smart integration capabilities, it becomes easier to make fast, data-driven decisions, engage the team, and foster a learning organization. The result? Less administration, increased transparency, and a production flow that shifts from reactive to strategically managed, exactly the support a production manager needs to handle everyday challenges.