Another example of Excel usage

My company frequently sends chairs as examples to customers; the customers can use the chair for a period and in so doing 'get a feel' for the chair. Hopefully, a sale will result from this trial period. Even more hopefully, we will collect the example from the customer. Unfortunately, we don't have a very good record for collecting, although that has been improving lately.

Each example is sent with a delivery note; Priority (our ERP system) can track the delivery notes and can also determine which examples are still extant, yet to be returned. Today, those who are supposed to be collecting the examples decided that they would improve their performance by keeping a record of their contacts with customers who have extant examples.

I was asked how they could create the non-returned examples report in Excel; I explained how to do this. Then I was told that they intended to add comments about each example within the spreadsheet. The red light above my head immediately turned itself on.

Looking at the delivery note screen in Priority, I saw that there was an accompanying 'task log' screen which could maintain all the comments for each delivery note. The existing report would need to be modified to add the new data, but that would be a trivial matter. 

So, instead of a spreadsheet which might be passed from hand to hand, which everyone can edit (but no track is kept of who added what), which might get lost, damaged or exist in several versions, we now have an elegant database report which contains the same information, is accessible to all, has its changes logged, will always be up to date and will never be damaged. The user has to perform the same amount of work (if not less) to add the comment to the database. As far as I am concerned, this is an all-around win situation.

To be fair, my solution was enthusiastically accepted and adopted.

The solution this time was trivial, but that's not the point. The point is that when something has to be documented for the first time, people automatically think of using Excel! Of course, Microsoft  don't get a royalty for every spreadsheet which gets opened, but they must be pleased at the amount of market penetration that their product has achieved.