Greenway Logistics warehouse
Before after metrics slide with six matched measures
A before and after metrics slide is only believable when the two periods are the same length and the same season, because an audience that suspects the comparison will not argue about it out loud. This one belongs to Greenway Logistics, a fictional warehouse operator, and compares two matched six month periods either side of an automation project.
What is on the slide
- Periods
- Six months to March 2026, 214,000 order lines, against six months to March 2027, 231,000 lines.
- Throughput and quality
- Lines picked per hour 74 to 118, plus 59%. Pick error rate 1.9% to 0.6%, minus 68%. Orders shipped same day 81% to 96%, plus 15 points.
- Cost and hours
- Overtime hours a week 412 to 168, minus 59%. Cost per order $3.41 to $2.18, minus 36%.
- Safety
- Recordable injuries 9 to 3, minus 67%, included so the throughput gain cannot be read as having come at the cost of safety.
When this is the right slide
A six row metric ledger suits a before and after slide when a finished project moved several measures and the two periods can be matched for length, season and volume.
What to swap it for
Comparison: Before/After Table. Swap to the before and after table when more than six measures have to be reported, since the ledger layout is fixed at six rows and a seventh has nowhere to sit.
What this slide shows
A title reads Greenway Logistics, Six Months, with the subtitle same warehouse, same season, before and after. A single aligned ledger follows, with the column headers MEASURE, BEFORE, AFTER and CHANGE on one rail, and six rows separated by hairlines. Lines picked per hour moves from 74 to 118, a change of plus 59%. Pick error rate moves from 1.9% to 0.6%, minus 68%. Overtime hours a week moves from 412 to 168, minus 59%. Recordable injuries move from 9 to 3, minus 67%. Cost per order moves from $3.41 to $2.18, minus 36%. Orders shipped same day move from 81% to 96%, plus 15 points. The after values and their changes sit inside a brand panel on the right, so the eye reads the new state as a block. A summary line closes each side: six months to March 2026 with 214,000 order lines, and six months to March 2027 with 231,000. Nothing on the slide is a chart: every value is a figure, so the six rows can be read in any order.
When this is the right slide
Use it to report the result of a completed project, in a closeout, a board update, a case study or a supplier reference. It suits a change with four to six measures that all moved, and where the measures are already reported by the business rather than invented for the slide. It is the wrong slide while a project is still running, because a ledger of six deltas implies the change is finished and repeatable. It is also wrong when more than six measures matter, since the layout is fixed at six rows and a seventh has nowhere to go: a before and after table can carry ten or twelve. And it is wrong when the measures are steps in a process rather than numbers, where a matched two column list reads better.
How to adapt it
First, match the periods and say so on the slide. Same length, same season, and both volumes published. If the two periods are not comparable, the honest version puts the caveat in the subtitle rather than waiting for someone to ask. Second, keep the change column consistent, and mark percentage point changes differently from percentage changes so nobody reads plus 15 points as plus 15%. Third, choose measures across more than one dimension. Six rows that all describe throughput will be read as a selection, while cost, quality and safety together make the case that the change was not bought at the expense of something else. Where a measure moved the wrong way, include it: one honest row makes the other five credible. Keep the measure names short enough to sit on one line, because a row label that wraps pushes the value and the change out of alignment with the rows above and below it, and the ledger only works when the four columns hold a straight rail down the slide.
What makes this slide work
Both periods are six months, and both are named
Six months to March 2026 against six months to March 2027, with 214,000 order lines in the first and 231,000 in the second. Matching the length and the season removes the easiest objection to any before and after, and publishing the volumes shows the improvement was not produced by a quieter half year.
Every row carries a change, calculated the same way
Plus 59%, minus 68%, minus 59%, minus 67%, minus 36%, plus 15 points. Five of the six are percentage changes and the sixth is a change in percentage points, written as pts so the difference is visible. A slide that mixes the two without saying so is the most common way a metrics panel overstates itself.
Six measures cover cost, quality and safety
Throughput and same day shipping cover output, pick error rate covers quality, overtime and cost per order cover money, and recordable injuries cover safety. An automation slide showing only throughput invites the question about injuries, so the panel answers it before it is asked.
Questions people ask
How many measures belong on a before and after slide?
Four to six. This layout is fixed at six rows, which is about what an audience can absorb while a presenter talks. More than six turns the slide into a report extract, and a table layout handles that better because a reader can scan a column rather than follow a spoken walkthrough.
Why do the two periods have to match?
Because an unmatched comparison can produce almost any result. A busy quarter against a quiet one, or a summer against a winter, moves throughput and overtime on its own. Matching the length and the season, and publishing the volume for each period, removes the first objection anyone experienced will raise.
What is the difference between a percentage change and a percentage point change?
A move from 81% to 96% is 15 percentage points, but only about 19% in relative terms. Writing it as plus 15 pts, as this slide does, keeps it honest. Reporting it as plus 15% invites a reader to compare it with a 59% throughput gain, which would be comparing two different kinds of number.
Should a measure that moved the wrong way be included?
Yes, if it is one an audience would expect to see. A panel of six improvements with no cost anywhere reads as a selection, and the first question will be what was left off. Naming one measure that worsened, with the reason, usually buys more credibility than it costs.
When should this be split into two slides?
Split when the measures belong to different audiences, for example operations metrics and financial ones, or when any row needs a trend rather than two points. A ledger shows the start and the end but not the path, so a project where the gain arrived late is better told with a chart beside this slide.
How should this slide be presented out loud?
Give the two periods first, then one row, then stop. Saying six months either side, same season, and picking rates went from 74 to 118 an hour establishes the comparison and the headline in fifteen seconds. Reading all six rows and their changes takes a minute and leaves the audience with none of them.
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