Lock the measure before you pick the chart

In a Port Klang logistics review last quarter, three teams brought OTIF charts that disagreed by nine points. The bars were fine. The filters were not.

We paused drawing and wrote one sentence: “On-time means the gate-in timestamp is on or before the promised slot on the booking sheet.” Finance added “excluding weather holds logged in code W.” That sentence went on a yellow card taped to the monitor.

Only then did we choose a ranked bar for delay reasons and a trend for the locked OTIF line. The argument moved from “your file vs mine” to “which lanes need a carrier call.”

If your next pack starts in illustration software, stop. Start with a card.