Reporting and Data Analysis Flashcards
What are the key components of the reporting strategy?
Audience analysis and planning for reports
planned reports
ad hoc reports
data and report accuracy and validation method
What must be decided on regarding report availability?
- Whether reports will be available online or pushed out by the system
- parameters around downloading and storing
- report format
- update frequency
What are actionable reports and how are they used?
They enable fleet personnel to quickly identify problem areas and take action.
What should be your strategy towards running ad hoc reports?
Minimize need for ad hoc reports
use self-serve tools
include steps from request to report creation
consider adding frequently requested reports to planned inventory.
What is the data and report validation step?
It is the most important element before sharing any report.
What are the attributes of report builders?
- Technical skills in data entry and report development
- knowledge of database content and structure
- ability to deconstruct report requests.
What categories can report readers be broken into?
Fleet Personnel, Finance and fleet managers, Stakeholders, and fleet clients.
What types of data are used in a fleet study?
Performance metrics and preventative maintenance compliance percentage.
What information might a company executive want regarding the fleet?
Only information necessary for decision-making and reviewing fleet KPIs.
What are the guiding principles of the Iterative process flow?
- outcomes of discussions
- usage of information
- versions of reports
- systemization
- revisit report needs.
What is the suggested approach for finalizing information with stakeholders?
- Conversation
- preliminary report review
- draft report review
- final report review
- implementation
What should you consider for data freshness?
Balance the use of system resources between data refreshing and running applications.
What is the system designer’s goal?
To optimize the system’s service metrics quality regarding data freshness and accuracy.
What are caching techniques?
To store or cache website addresses or actual data to improve response time and reduce system load.
What is base data?
Temporal data that changes over time, such as maintenance and repair data for a vehicle.
What are derived data tables?
Tables resulting from computations on base data.
Who uses reports in their day-to-day activities?
Fleet Managers involved in operations, such as fuel management or inventory.
What are the two categories of summary reports?
Reports for managers tracking performance metrics and reports for senior managers approving budgets.
What types of information might be included in a management summary report?
Performance metrics, budget tracking, and corrective action plans.
What are the guiding principles for summary reports?
- Capture assumptions
- start with detailed data
- create repeatable summaries
- ensure clarity and simplicity
What is a report writer?
Part of a database management system that extracts and presents information in a specific format.
What are Ad hoc reporting tools?
Tools used to provide quick, cost-effective information and create reusable report formats.
What is a software dashboard tool?
A tool providing managers with necessary information using summaries, graphics, and colors.
What are the characteristics of a best-in-class dashboard?
Easy to read, single page, real-time information, and KPI historical trends.
What is a Business Intelligence tool?
A sophisticated report writing application using a dashboard GUI.
What are the benefits of a well-planned dashboard?
Graphical metrics, timely identification of trends, and customization by fleet function.
How might an FIMS help track a workflow process?
By tracking the percentage of completion in a report or dashboard.
What are examples of standard reports using an FIMS?
Total number of PMs, inventory reports, and fuel consumption reports.
What is a transaction journal?
A history of actions executed by a database management system to maintain data integrity.
Who uses operational reports?
Fleet personnel responsible for improving operational efficiencies.
What do operational reports do?
Collect transactional data to create performance metrics about workflows.
What types of information are tracked by operational reports?
- tracking and monitoring short-term situations
- often provide week over week or month over month metrics
ex. open purchase or work orders, status of vehicle replacement program
What is an exception report?
Identifies events outside normal ranges to prompt remedial action.
What are analytic reports?
Reports that combine multiple metrics using algorithms, created by fleet managers and IT specialists.
How are analytic reports created?
Using data warehouse architecture for consolidated information.
Why are analytic reports important to fleet managers?
They provide information for strategic decision-making.
What are trend reports?
Trend analysis of historical data to find patterns.
How are trend reports used in fleet management?
To analyze historical data and forecast future performance indicators.
What is the purpose of a dashboard?
To provide an at-a-glance view of performance based on indicators.
Why are dashboards sorted by fleet role?
To customize information relevant to each role’s responsibilities.
What dashboards would be available to an Asset Manager?
Quantity of vehicles purchased, upfitted, and requested by fleet clients.
What dashboards would be available to a Maintenance Manager?
Work order status, exception reports, PM compliance, and unscheduled repairs.
What dashboards would be available to a Parts Manager?
Open and closed purchase orders, receipted parts, and exception reports.
What dashboards would be available to a Fuel Manager?
Exceptions and resolutions, fuel consumption, and poor fuel economy reports.
How can dashboards help form an action plan?
By indicating areas falling short of targets to create strategic initiatives.
What is the central idea of an operational dashboard?
To provide an at-a-glance view of important metrics for fleet roles.
What types of information can be tracked using a trend dashboard?
Historical data set to daily, weekly, monthly, or annual information.
What types of information might be tracked in an executive dashboard?
Fleet size, vehicle utilization, maintenance costs, fuel consumption, and client satisfaction.
What is a data warehouse?
A data repository across an enterprise for reporting and analytics.
How does an enterprise DW obtain data?
Using ETL (extract, transform, load) and a data dictionary.
What is a data mart?
A focused data repository for one area of business.
What is a Star Schema?
A schema where fact tables are joined with dimension tables.
What types of information are recorded in fact tables?
Measurements or metrics for events, generally as numeric values.
What types of information are recorded in dimension tables?
Attributes describing the fact data, with fewer records than fact tables.
What is Data Transformation?
The process of converting data from one format to another for usability.
What are the two main steps of data transformation?
Data mapping and code generation.
What is Data Mining?
Applications looking for hidden patterns in datasets within a data warehouse.
What is trend analysis?
Using past data to project future results, also known as extrapolation.
How is correlation used to analyze data?
Correlation measures the relationship among variables. One variable is called the dependent and the other called independent variables.
What are some ways to graphically represent a distribution analysis?
A representation of frequencies shown as a bar graph. The height of the bar is equal to the frequency of the data in the interval or bin.
What is the Pareto Principle and how would it be used in a fleet setting?
Pareto analysis shows that a disproportionate outcome can be achieved by concentrating on a few factors.
Also known as the 80/20 rule, 80% of the outcome can be traced back to 20% of the causes.
Why shouldn’t averages be used in order to make business decisions?
Flaw of averages – plans based on average conditions usually go wrong. Decisions should be made on a range of relevant numbers rather than a single value.
What is some of the data necessary in order to predict maintenance?
Looks at the condition of a part or system and if repairs are warranted or should replace before an actual failure.
Make and model, date, mileage, hour of use, the services performed to specific components.
What information is needed in order to measure Fuel consumption?
Vehicle count and historical fuel consumption.
