Steelhead Technologies, a leader in metal finishing job shop software, is excited to announce the release of two groundbreaking reporting features designed to elevate the efficiency and productivity of manufacturing operations: Insights and Watch Tower.

Insights: Turning Data into Action

The new Insights feature provides a turnkey suite of critical reports that work seamlessly out of the box, offering high configurability to meet the unique needs of any job shop. Designed to empower both owners and managers, Insights transforms raw data into actionable intelligence, fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement.

One job shop owner shared his experience with Insights: “I started producing weekly reports and presenting them to my operators. They quickly realized that they had an objective goal to reach, which incentivized them to work harder. It gave them a sense of purpose and data to improve upon. By the end of the week, I noticed them pushing to meet their goals—and even exceeding them. It was pretty awesome to see that level of dedication!”

"We advertise a lead time of 8 business days or less, and thanks to Insights, I can confidently back that up,” explained Andrew Kossowski, Co-Owner of Veterans Metal. “Most orders average around 6.5 days, but when I saw a 45-day outlier, I dug into the details right in Steelhead. It turned out to be a massive order with thousands of heavy parts. Insights not only highlighted this exception but also reassured me that we were delivering partial orders weekly, keeping our promise to customers. It’s an invaluable tool for maintaining transparency and trust.”

Andrew Kossowski continued, “Now with Insights I'm able to see things in advance, trends in particular, so I can then get ahead of the trend especially a negative trend or take advantage of a positive trend.”

The Watch Tower: Real-Time Oversight at Your Fingertips

Watch Tower is Steelhead Technologies' new real-time dashboard, offering an unparalleled overview of all active parts in a plant. This feature enables users to see active orders, filter them by customer, treatment, date, process step, and more. With Watch Tower, job shops can run production reports on the parts being viewed, providing detailed insights into the financial value of work-in-progress at any location or station.

Whether tracking the status of a specific customer order or assessing the overall productivity of the plant floor, Watch Tower delivers real-time data that enables informed decision-making and enhances operational transparency.

“Our goal at Steelhead Technologies has always been to provide job shops with the most advanced tools to enhance their operations,” explained Jeff Halonen, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Steelhead Technologies. “With the introduction of Insights and Watch Tower, we are responding to two of the most frequent questions we hear, “Where are the parts?” and “How are we performing as a business, and at each line?” These features are designed to take full advantage of a digital production floor and bring to light a deep suite of automated insights to drive more profitability and prosperity in Job Shops. We are incredibly proud of what we've built, and we believe these tools are game-changers to elevate the entire industry."