Service
Custom operations dashboards for SMEs
A custom operations dashboard pulls the numbers a business runs on, such as cash, sales, production and stock, from the systems where they actually live, including the spreadsheets, and shows them in one place without anyone copying figures across. Kyn Technology builds these for SMEs in Singapore and Southeast Asia, and sends the daily summary to WhatsApp so it gets read.
A focused first release reaches production in about 14 days once scope, access and integrations are settled. Rights in the custom work are assigned to the client on full payment, as set out on /legal.
On this page
The ERP to Excel gap
Most growing businesses already pay for an ERP or accounting system. The team still runs the real job in spreadsheets, because the system does not hold what they need, or nobody owns making it fit.
One KYN client, a manufacturing business, ran several ERP systems, none of them owned by a technical team. Staff worked around all of it in Google Sheets on personal accounts. KYN audited what was actually in use, advised on the target state, and rebuilt it into one system the staff adopted.
What the dashboard covers
A daily executive report
Cash, sales and production compiled from live data and delivered before the working day starts, to WhatsApp or email.
Early warnings
Cash runway, department overspend and revenue at risk, raised while there is still time to act rather than at month end.
Department views
Purchasing, inventory, production and finance each see the numbers they own, drawn from the same data, so the figures in one meeting match the next.
Build on the ERP or replace it
The default is to build on what you have. These questions decide it:
- Does the ERP hold the data, but nobody can get it out? Build on it.
- Is the data in spreadsheets because the ERP has no place for it? Extend around it.
- Is the ERP unsupported, unlicensed or impossible to integrate? Then replacement is costed in the scope.
Replacing an ERP is expensive and disruptive, so it is never the starting assumption. When a simpler tool would do the job, the recommendation is the simpler tool.
Why personal spreadsheets are a risk
- The data leaves with the employee when they do.
- There is no access control, so anyone with the link sees everything.
- Two people keep two versions, and the meeting argues about which is right.
- Personal data held there still falls under PDPA in Singapore and Indonesia’s Law No. 27 of 2022.
How a build runs
- Understand the existing process: every platform, spreadsheet and document the team actually works in.
- Design the solution: the workflow mapped end to end and agreed before anything is built.
- Build and migrate: the system, the analytics layer and the AI agents, with existing data moved across.
- Deploy and test: live against real work, tested, documented, and the team trained before handover.
Frequently asked questions
What is a custom operations dashboard?
One view of the numbers a business runs on, such as cash, sales, production and stock, pulled automatically from the systems where they actually live, including spreadsheets, and refreshed without anyone copying figures across.
Do we have to replace our ERP?
Usually not. The default is to build on top of the ERP you have and close the gaps around it. Replacement is a deliberate, costed decision made only when discovery shows the ERP cannot hold the data the business needs.
Why send reports to WhatsApp?
Because that is where owners and managers already read. A daily summary in a WhatsApp group gets read; a dashboard behind a login often does not. The full dashboard stays available for detail.
What happens to the spreadsheets the team uses now?
They are audited first. The ones that hold real operating data are brought into the system, so the numbers no longer live in personal files. The rest are retired once the system replaces what they did.
How long does it take?
About 14 days for a focused first release once scope, access and integrations are settled. Messy data, several source systems and slow access are the usual reasons it takes longer.
Who owns the dashboard?
Rights in the custom code, configurations and deliverables are assigned to the client on full payment, as set out in section 3 of the KYN terms.