Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the questions we hear most. Can’t find yours? See the Support page or email us.
General
What are Production Plan and Production Tracker?
They are two premium Power BI custom visuals built for manufacturing. Production Tracker shows per-machine OEE, daily-target fulfilment and planned vs. unplanned downtime. Production Plan builds a capacity-aware weekly production schedule with buffers, BOM-driven demand and a pipeline map. Both run inside Power BI with no DAX.
Do I need both visuals, or can I use one on its own?
Each visual works standalone on a simple star schema. Use one, or pair them for end-to-end plan-vs-actual visibility.
Which languages and themes are supported?
Both visuals support English and Hungarian, and dark and light themes. You can switch language and theme in one click, and the choice is saved with your report.
Setup & data model
Do I have to write DAX or create measures?
No. You bind your existing columns to the visual’s fields and it does the rest — there are no measures or DAX to write. Field tooltips tell you exactly what to bind.
What do I need to bind for Production Plan?
Only Product Name and Week Number are required. Cycle Time, Produced, Goal, Delivery Quantity and Delivery Date are recommended. Weekly goals need a Dim_Week bridge table.
When should I bind the Machine Name field in Production Plan?
Machine Name is conditional. Bind it only if your machine dimension relates to every fact row. If some facts do not join to the machine dimension, leave Machine Name empty to avoid a join error.
What do I need to bind for Production Tracker?
Machine and Produced Quantity are required. Date, cycle-time, downtime and category fields are recommended for full OEE and downtime analysis. See the user guide for the complete field list.
How should my data model be structured?
A simple star schema works well: a fact table for production and downtime plus dimensions for machine, product and calendar. For weekly targets in Production Plan, add a Dim_Week bridge table. The user guides include a recommended layout.
OEE & downtime (Production Tracker)
How is OEE calculated?
OEE = Availability × Performance × Quality. It is computed automatically from your data and a configurable shift schedule — you do not write any formulas.
How does Production Tracker tell planned from unplanned downtime?
By the downtime code you bind. If the code starts with the letter S it is treated as planned (scheduled); any other code is treated as unplanned. This drives the planned vs. unplanned split.
Can I configure shifts and planned stops?
Yes. Production Tracker includes configurable shift templates and named planned stops such as breaks, changeover and maintenance. Open time and daily targets follow the schedule you set.
Planning (Production Plan)
How does Production Plan decide what to schedule?
It schedules the final area from your weekly goals and deliveries, then pulls demand back through connected areas — respecting BOM structure, cycle times, shifts and buffers — to build a capacity-aware plan.
What is the pipeline map?
A visual of your whole material flow — production, quality and buffer areas shown as connected nodes, with hover highlighting so you can trace how work moves from one area to the next.
Licensing & pricing
How does licensing work?
Report viewers can open and read reports that use the visuals for free. Editing a report that uses a visual requires a license, which you can buy on Microsoft AppSource. A free trial is available.
Where do I buy the visuals?
On Microsoft AppSource — search for Production Tracker or Production Plan, or use the Get it on AppSource buttons on this site.
Privacy & security
Do the visuals send my data anywhere?
No. The visuals make no external network calls and send no telemetry. All processing happens locally inside your Power BI report, and settings are stored within your Power BI tenant. See the Privacy Policy for details.
Are the visuals Power BI certified?
Yes. Both Production Tracker and Production Plan are Microsoft Power BI certified — Microsoft has reviewed the code and confirmed the visuals make no external service calls. Certified visuals also render in exported PDF and PowerPoint files and in email subscriptions.
Support
How do I get help, and how fast do you respond?
Email info@productionvisual.com. We aim to respond within two business days (Monday to Friday, CET). Please include the visual name and version, your Power BI environment, and the fields you bound. See the Support page for details.