Replacing a Macro-Heavy Spreadsheet with Power BI
Hypex Group's industry-standard Excel model was crashing daily and destroying staff productivity. A Power BI dashboard and field data entry PowerApp eliminated the lost time and cut report production to near zero.
The Situation
Hypex Group were running on the industry-standard Excel spreadsheet - a massive macro-enabled document that had grown well beyond what Excel was designed to handle. It was causing delays and data loss on a daily basis. Staff were losing hours to crashes, recovering files, re-entering data that had vanished into the ether.
At the same time, Hypex was about to launch a new Health Check service and needed a solution for field data entry. Their people would be working at client sites, often in places with patchy or no internet connection, and they needed a reliable way to capture data and turn it into client reports.
Two problems, both rooted in the same issue: Excel had reached the end of what it could usefully do for them.
What We Built
Power BI Dashboard - We designed a detailed Power BI dashboard that performed the complex calculations the old Excel model used to handle. Data lives in SharePoint lists (reliable, scalable, accessible), and the dashboard performs the heavy computation. We also built a client-facing portal so Hypex’s own customers could access the relevant views directly when needed.
Health Check PowerApp - For the new service, we built a PowerApp designed for field use. It handles data entry on-site, works offline when there’s no internet, and syncs back securely when the connection returns. Once the data is in, the app automates the document creation tasks that used to be a manual slog - turning field observations into client-ready reports without staff having to do the formatting themselves.
Both solutions were integrated, so the same data flowed through reporting, analytics, and client delivery without being touched twice.
The Result
30% reduction in lost time and effort - the crashes, the recoveries, the do-it-all-again frustration is gone.
Near total reduction in time spent producing client reporting - what used to take hours of manual formatting now happens automatically from the captured data.
The offline data entry capability means field staff can work confidently at client sites without losing work to connectivity issues. Everything syncs back securely when they’re back online.
The platform continues to evolve as the business grows - new services get wired into the same data flow rather than spawning yet another spreadsheet.
“Steve has been an outstanding supporter of our business, consistently going above and beyond to ensure we’re well looked after. He combines exceptional technical expertise with the ability to explain complex concepts in clear, straightforward terms. I couldn’t recommend him more highly.”
- Mitchell Thompson, Director, Hypex Group
