Methods & research
Measure Before You Digitise: Building a Value Baseline
Without a baseline, every project claims success. How to set metrics, owners and data sources before you start.
Trikaan Research & Engineering4 min read
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Without a baseline, every project claims success and none can prove it.
- Choose a few KPIs linked directly to money or service.
- Every KPI needs a definition, owner and data source.
- Baseline over enough time to capture normal variation.
Digital projects are often approved on promised benefits and judged on anecdotes. A value baseline changes that: it records how the business performs today, so improvement can be measured rather than claimed.
Here is how to set one up.
Pick the right KPIs
Five to eight KPIs are plenty. More dilutes attention.
| Lever | KPI | Link to money |
|---|---|---|
| Yield | Output ÷ input by stage | Material cost |
| Downtime | Unplanned stop hours on bottleneck | Lost contribution |
| Inventory | Days of inventory | Working capital |
| Cost accuracy | Quoted vs actual cost | Margin |
| Service | On-time delivery | Revenue retention |
| Effort | Hours to produce MIS | Staff time |
Define each one precisely
- Exact formula and unit.
- Data source and extraction method.
- Owner who explains movements.
- Frequency of measurement.
Measure long enough
A two-week baseline can be misleading if it falls in a good or bad period. Use several months of history where data exists, or at least a full production cycle. Note unusual events — shutdowns, raw-material shortages, festivals — that affect the numbers.
The value scorecard
Put KPIs, baselines, targets, owners and sources on one page. Review it monthly in the steering committee. When a KPI moves, the owner explains why. When it does not, the team asks what to change.
Avoid these traps
- Counting benefits that would have happened anyway.
- Changing definitions mid-project.
- Measuring activity (users trained) instead of outcomes.
- Claiming savings nobody in finance will recognise.
Frequently asked questions
What is a value baseline?
A measured record of current performance on the KPIs a project aims to improve.
How many KPIs should we track?
Usually five to eight, directly linked to money or customer service.
Who should own the scorecard?
A business sponsor, with finance validating value calculations.
How do we attribute improvement to the project?
Compare against the baseline, note other changes, and agree attribution rules with finance in advance.
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Trikaan Research & Engineering
Trikaan
Written by the researchers and engineers who build Anvaya, ASTR and Seed Track, with input from Trikaan's delivery and engineering teams.
