345 Intelligence

The Dispatch

Lessons from building data systems in environments where a wrong number has a real cost.

Latest issue
No. 017
OPS-TRUTH · JUNE 14, 2026
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Your Data Is Dirty and That's Fine

ERP exports break in predictable ways. Here's how the OIM handles the full range of it. From encoding errors at the gate to null values that make it all the way to the dimension table.

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Industrial Grade Analytics

A six-layer architecture that never needs its SQL touched. Here's how config-driven design, dimensional modeling, and a parametric targeting engine converge.

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Goldratt on the Floor

I picked up The Goal trying to get better at influencing executives. What I found instead was a different way of thinking about operations entirely.

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The Stress Harness

25 runs. 76 million rows. Zero failures. How I built the adversarial test that earns the right to call the OIM production-ready.

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Why Dash

I knew Power BI better than almost anyone. That's exactly why I walked away from it.

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First 50M Row Run

2.5M rows was the proof of concept. 50M rows in under two hours on a laptop was the proof it was real.

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Why DuckDB

The OIM started as a Power BI template. Power Query was the plan. Then I hit a wall and found the tool that changed everything.

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Why Your ERP Data Is More Valuable Than You Think

Most manufacturers are sitting on years of operational data they never use. Here's what it actually takes to turn that into a clear picture of your floor.

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Earned

After a major disruption knocked out service across our territory, I ended up in a room full of executives building the report that would help us earn back customer trust. Here's what I learned.

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In a Bind

IT said 4-6 weeks. My executive review was in two. So I figured it out myself. That's where the obsession started.

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Dreaming

Build for the person doing the work. Everything else follows.

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Nobody Cares

Nobody cares how complicated your analysis was. Here's the one thing that actually gets acted on.

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Frontline Frustration

One operator, 35 work orders, and a shift report that still couldn't answer a simple question. The story behind the OIM.

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Useful

Dashboard graveyards exist for one reason: they don't answer the questions that drive action. Here's the test for whether yours will get used.

Ops Truth

Powerful

Most analytics tell you what happened. The ones that move organizations tell you what to do next and make sure everyone is looking at the same thing.

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Clarity

Why knowing what to work on next is the only thing that actually moves the needle.

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