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Improving Smartsheet Workflows with Data Shuttle and DataMesh

Overview

The client, the Packaging team for a global manufacturer, was seeking a solution to improve upon their existing Smartsheet process and enable the team to save time, have greater collaboration and visibility within the department, and to more easily juggle their high volume of tasks. Our solution heavily utilized premium apps such as Control Center, Data Shuttle, and DataMesh to provide a thorough tool that will serve the team far into the future. This solution allowed them to leverage Smartsheet to load items from SAP in their Smartsheet system and more easily manage the packaging lifecycle for each of those items prior to the date the warehouse would need them for distribution.

Project

To kick off the project, our CloudWave Smartsheet consultants worked closely with the client to understand the existing Smartsheet environment and used exercises like process mapping to determine the ideal future state for workflows.

We discovered that this team was already using Smartsheet, but not to its full potential or with best practices in mind. For example, the client was:

  • trying to maintain too much data in just one sheet
  • using too many formulas and cross sheet references
  • not able to easily move images around the old solution
  • not specifying levels of organization: Project and Portfolio
  • not utilizing dashboards

Our team designed the scope of the ideal future state in detail, noting improvements needed for existing sheets, listing new sheets we would need to create, and documenting overall processes we would facilitate to improve internal communication.

We helped the client leverage Smartsheet’s premium Control Center application for automation and add the Jira connector in phase two, upon completion of the Control Center build. New projects would be created automatically by Smartsheet when triggered. All of the necessary sheets, reports, and dashboards would be created for the users and eliminate manual setup and copy/pasting.

Smartsheet would then add the project to the appropriate workspace and share it to the appropriate people. Everyone who needed project-level information would receive it instantly upon creation.

The project would also roll up to the portfolio level: dashboards, reporting, etc. could be updated automatically by this process. Project-level information would be isolated and pushed to a higher level for easy review and sharing.

The CloudWave team also worked with the customer to set up DataMesh configurations, which maps and updates data across sheets. This eliminates the need for cross sheet formulas while still allowing data lookups from other sheets.

And finally, we helped configure Data Shuttle workflows. These workflows mapped data from spreadsheets pulled from external systems into the appropriate sheet that can then be dispersed and utilized across the projects.

When the configurations were complete, CloudWave led the client in User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and created detailed documentation custom to the solution. We also provided various levels of training to the appropriate groups: end users, project managers, and admins.

Results

  • A Data Shuttle workflow that imports the appropriate SAP records from a .CSV file to the appropriate sheet in Smartsheet.
  • A Data Shuttle workflow that exports from Smartsheet in a format that can then be uploaded in SAP to update records as appropriate
  • Various Data Mesh configurations that replace cross sheet formulas, freeing up space within the sheets.
  • Automated tasks lists for each specific item to manage the packing lifecycle.
  • Automated dashboards that pull in all packaging information as provided by the SAP import to replace a process that currently lives in a PDF.
  • Various reports for better collaboration including documentation on how sub teams manage their tasks.
  • A high level dashboard for visibility into the status and progress of all items currently in progress.

About CloudWave

CloudWave Inc. is an information technology consulting firm based in Virginia that provides end to end services from architecture to development in niche cutting-edge cloud technologies. CloudWave specializes in application development, integration, and cloud offerings - SaaS, PaaS, IaS, machine learning/artificial intelligence, analytics/business intelligence, microservices, and enterprise document management. Since 2012, the company has developed classified/unclassified, innovative, cost-saving, low-risk solutions to federal and commercial customers both within the United States and globally. The team has more than 30 years of exceptional systems and architectures experience managing complex and compliant projects.

CloudWave has successfully integrated Smartsheet with Salesforce, MuleSoft, Google Cloud, Azure, Jira, Hubspot, and more so that our clients can have real-time access to all relevant information across multiple systems.

With CloudWave on your side, you can feel peace of mind knowing that you are working with an official Smartsheet platinum Partner. Our team has the expertise and experience to determine your organization’s vision, and then design a powerful solution to meet those needs.

For more information, get in touch with us here.