Many manufacturers know their spreadsheets are holding them back, but few have worked out what to do about it. On Wednesday 11 November, Flowlens is joining Genie Insights Ltd and E-DATA for a free lunchtime webinar on exactly that.
It is called From Spreadsheets to Scale: Genie Insights’ Digital Transformation Journey, and it is a real customer story, not a product pitch. Register on the E-DATA website.
The business that depended on one person
Genie Insights outgrew its spreadsheets. The company makes vehicle-integrated solar solutions for commercial fleets, and growth meant orders, stock availability, deliveries, kit planning, delivery slots and invoices were all kept moving through manually updated spreadsheets. The glue holding them together was Jan Willis, Operations Director.
Jan and her co-directors knew it was untenable, and they took the leap. Almost all of those spreadsheets have gone, and the business has been able to bring on people to take on different parts of the process. Genie Insights is a Flowlens customer, but the session is about their journey, not our software.
What the session covers
The hour is built around four practical questions.
- How to tell when spreadsheets are holding your business back
- What a practical move away from them looks like
- Why a “jobs to be done” list is the best starting point for choosing a system: everything your spreadsheets and sheer effort do today
- The funded support available through E-DATA, explained by Dr Justin Quinn of Ulster University
A head start: write your jobs-to-be-done list
Before the session, list every job your spreadsheets do today, not just the obvious ones. That list is the best brief you can give any new system, whichever one you end up choosing.
- What gets typed in, and by whom
- What gets copied from one sheet to another
- What gets checked by eye, every single time
- What only works because one person knows the formulas
The system you choose has to do every one of those jobs. Get that selection right, and the change may feel uncomfortable for a while, but the outcome is freedom and room to scale.
Who it is for
The session is for small and growing manufacturers and suppliers who have outgrown spreadsheets and manual processes. It is an E-DATA Collaborative Network peer learning session, so expect time for questions, shared experiences and discussion of your own challenges.
Dr Justin Quinn, Senior Lecturer and Director of the Centre for Engineering and Renewable Energy at Ulster University, will also explain how the E-DATA programme can support SMEs on their digital transformation journey, including the free support available to help businesses identify and implement suitable solutions.
Event details and registration
The webinar runs online on Wednesday 11 November 2026, from 12:00 to 13:00, and is free to attend. It is organised by Manufacturing Northern Ireland (E-DATA).
| Speaker | Role |
|---|---|
| Jan Willis | Operations Director, Genie Insights |
| Dr Justin Quinn | Senior Lecturer and Director of the Centre for Engineering and Renewable Energy, Ulster University and E-DATA |
| Rich Dale | CEO and Founder, Flowlens, adding the wider SME perspective |
