Turning a shared Excel dispatch sheet into a multi-user web app
A worked example of replacing a spreadsheet that several people edit at once with a small web application that has proper records, permissions and history.
This is a worked example of our approach, not a client case study.
The situation
A typical case: a logistics or field-service team schedules jobs in a shared spreadsheet. Several people edit it at the same time, rows get overwritten, the file locks, and nobody is sure which version is right. Status updates live in people's heads and inboxes.
How we would approach it
Map the columns, colour codes and side notes to real fields, statuses and owners, with the people who use the sheet every day.
Move the data into a PostgreSQL database and clean it on the way in: duplicates merged, formats fixed, history kept.
Build a web app with a jobs list, a job page and a schedule view. Several people can edit at once without overwriting each other, and every change is logged.
Add the first automations only once the basics work, for example notifying a customer when a job is booked or completed.
Run the spreadsheet and the app side by side for a short period, then switch off the spreadsheet.
Typical technology: Next.js, PostgreSQL, Prisma, AWS.
What changes for the team
- One shared record per job instead of copies of a file
- Permissions and an audit trail of who changed what
- Status that customers and colleagues can see without asking
- Reports generated from live data rather than assembled by hand
Related service: Custom software development
Got a process like this?
Send a short brief and we will come back with questions, a rough approach and whether we are the right fit. No sales sequence.
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