The screen above the till
A coffee shop has a screen above the till. It shows three numbers: sales so far today, people in the queue and milk left.
The manager is not at the shop. She looks at the same numbers on her phone. At 11am the milk number goes red. She orders more before the shop runs out.
This is how digital systems help managers, stock and money.
Key words
| Word | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| KPI | Key performance indicator: a number that shows how well something is going. | Sales today |
| Real time | Shown as it happens, with no delay. | A live queue count |
| Dashboard | One screen that shows the main numbers. | Sales, queue and stock |
| Asset | Something valuable that the organisation owns. | A delivery van |
| Stock control | Keeping track of how many items you have. | Counting boxes of milk |
| Revenue | Money coming in from sales. Also called income. | £500 of sales |
| Profit | Money left when you take the costs away from the income. | £500 income - £400 costs = £100 |
| Database | An organised store of data that a program can search. | A table of stock |
| Query | A question you ask a database. | Which items are low? |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Quick check: reading the numbers
Have a go
Quick check: reading the numbers
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.
Management: watch the numbers live
Managers need to know how the business is doing now, not last month. A dashboard shows KPIs in real time.
Common KPIs are sales, customers served, things made and where assets are. An asset can be tracked with a small device that sends its place. A manager can see on a map where a delivery van is.
Examples of live KPIs
| KPI | What it shows | Example action |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | Money taken today | Start a special offer if sales are low |
| Customers served | How many people were helped | Add a worker if the queue is long |
| Things made | Parts a factory has finished | Fix a slow machine |
| Location of assets | Where vans or tools are right now | Send the nearest van to a new job |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Logistics: automated stock control
Logistics is getting the right goods to the right place at the right time.
With stock control by computer, each sale or delivery is scanned. The system updates the count. When an item is below a set level, it warns the manager or even orders more.
A stock list
| Item | Left | Minimum | Order more? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milk | 4 | 10 | Yes: 4 is less than 10 |
| Coffee beans | 25 | 10 | No: 25 is more than 10 |
| Cups | 8 | 20 | Yes: 8 is less than 20 |
| Sugar | 12 | 5 | No: 12 is more than 5 |
The cells students fill in are left blank in this preview.
Your turn: read the stock list
Have a go
Your turn: read the stock list
3 questionsYour answers are marked here and are not kept. A college account keeps every student’s marks.