Replacing a spreadsheet-based handover tracker
At an SME civils and roofing contractor in the infrastructure supply chain (name withheld), a shared workbook had become the only view of package status and handover readiness.
- Sector
- Infrastructure supply chain
- Services
- Systems audits
- Digital systems
- Training and capability
The situation
- 01 Responsibility was implied by columns and habit, with no named owner for each status.
- 02 Updates arrived by email and in meetings, then were typed into the workbook again.
- 03 Evidence links, exceptions and status could drift apart.
- 04 Reporting depended on a few people who understood the file's hidden rules.
- 05 Package exceptions waited for the next status meeting to be picked up.
We mapped what the workbook was really deciding
We traced each status, input, exception and hand-off against real packages. That showed which columns did control work, which were just formatting and which decisions needed a named owner. The map kept the working knowledge that mattered and exposed the unsupported rules and duplicate entry.
- 01 Package states and what moves a package on
- 02 Evidence and source records each state needs
- 03 Who resolves each exception
- 04 Client and internal reporting
We tested the new flow on real exceptions before switching the file off
Over about 8 weeks we built a bespoke web app that holds status, evidence, owners and overdue actions in one place.
We rehearsed real packages and exception cases with the coordinators and reviewers, and refined the guidance and role-based training before the old tracker was withdrawn.
What the work achieved
- Handover sign-off time
- 3 days → same-day
- Handover sign-off time cut from an average of three days to same-day, once evidence and status lived in one place.
- Exception resolution
- < 24 hrs
- Package exceptions resolved within 24 hours instead of surfacing at the next status meeting.
- Reporting pack prep
- Half-day → <1 hr
- Reporting time for client handover packs dropped from a half-day compile to under an hour.
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