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Moving from Excel to one system checklist

A spreadsheet migration checklist is the plan for moving the trackers, logs and forms a plant keeps in Excel into one system, one file at a time. Page 1 has 34 checks in six steps: inventory, decide, clean, pilot, run both and retire. Page 2 is the file inventory, one row per file with its owner, readers, how often it changes, the decision it feeds, its data source, a verdict of move, keep, connect or retire, and the exit test that ends the side-by-side run. The Excel version counts the verdicts and the checks done.

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Page 1 of the Excel to one system migration checklist: fields for site, owner and date, then 34 checks in six groups named inventory, decide, clean, pilot, run both and retire, each with a done box and a notes column.
34 checks in six stepsFile inventoryMove, keep, connect or retireData clean-up rulesBaseline numbersExit testVerdict summary

When to use it

When to use a spreadsheet migration checklist

  • Before you pick a system, to find out how many trackers you have and which ones need one.
  • At the start of a pilot, to choose the first file and write down the baseline.
  • When two versions of the same tracker are in use and nobody trusts either.
  • When a file is about to be retired and you want proof the new system has held every entry.

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    List every file on page 2

    One row per file or per tab. Include the ones on laptops and the printed forms that get typed up. Write the owner, who reads it, how often it changes, the decision it feeds and where its data comes from.

  2. 2

    Mark a verdict for each

    M for move, K for keep in Excel, C for connect (the sheet only copies numbers from elsewhere) and R for retire. If nobody would notice the file disappearing, retire it.

  3. 3

    Name one target for each file that moves

    Write the module or tool each one goes to, so it lives in one place, not two. A workbook with several jobs on separate tabs gets a row per tab.

  4. 4

    Clean the pilot file

    Work through the clean-up checks on page 1 on a copy: one row per record, one fact per column, one date format, one spelling per person and machine, fixed lists for status and cause.

  5. 5

    Pick the pilot, write the baseline and the exit test

    One area, one file. Work out two or three numbers from the old file, and write the exit test: how many cycles you will run both and what must be true at the end.

  6. 6

    Run both, check weekly, then retire the old file

    Enter everything in the new system and only check the old file. When the exit test is met, make the old file read-only, rename it with the date and archive it.

What to check at each step

The 34 checks for moving from Excel to one system

Six steps, in order. On the sheet each one has a done box and a notes column; page 2 is the file inventory the first step fills in.

Inventory

List every sheet first

  1. 1Every tracker, log and form is listed, including files on laptops and printed forms that get typed up
  2. 2Each file has an owner, and the people who edit it are named
  3. 3Each file has the people who read it and where they read it
  4. 4How often each file changes is written down
  5. 5The decision each file feeds is written down
  6. 6Where each file's data comes from is written down

Decide

Move, keep, connect or retire

  1. 7Every file is marked move, keep, connect or retire
  2. 8Files nobody would miss are marked retire
  3. 9One-person models and one-off analyses are marked keep
  4. 10Files that only copy numbers from elsewhere are marked connect
  5. 11Each file that moves has one target module, and each tab of a workbook is treated as its own file

Clean

Fix the data before it moves

  1. 12One row per record: no merged cells, blank rows or subtotal rows inside the data
  2. 13One fact per column
  3. 14One date format, and numbers stored as numbers
  4. 15People, machines and areas are spelled one way, with IDs where they exist
  5. 16Status, area, shift and cause use fixed lists, not free text
  6. 17Duplicate rows are removed
  7. 18Calculated columns are marked, with their rule written down
  8. 19A history cut-off is decided and older records are archived

Pilot

One area, one file

  1. 20One area and one file are chosen for the pilot
  2. 21Two or three baseline numbers are worked out from the old file
  3. 22The people who will enter data every day are named
  4. 23They can enter data at the point of work, on a phone or tablet
  5. 24Users and managers are listed for upload
  6. 25The exit test is written down: the number of cycles and what must be true

Run both

A fixed time, then stop

  1. 26Every entry is made in the new system; the old file is only checked
  2. 27The old file is checked once a week, and any edit is traced to what was missing
  3. 28The first reports are compared with the old ones and differences are explained
  4. 29The exit test is met

Retire

Close the old file

  1. 30The old file is read-only and renamed with the date
  2. 31It is moved to an archive and kept as long as the records policy requires
  3. 32The shortcut is removed from the shared drive
  4. 33The new location is posted where people used to look
  5. 34The baseline numbers are worked out again after one full cycle and shared with the team

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example: an inventory in one plant that found 14 files (illustrative).

  • Move 6: the audit scores, the audit action log, the kaizen tracker, the skills matrix, the idea box and the issue board.
  • Connect 3: three KPI sheets that only copied numbers from other files into a chart.
  • Keep 2: a changeover time study and a cost model, each built and used by one person.
  • Retire 3: last year's copy of the kaizen tracker, a duplicate skills matrix and a shift log nobody had opened in months.

The audit action log went first, because it fed a weekly decision and its open actions were already being chased by hand. Before the switch the team worked out how many actions were open past their due date. They ran both for four weekly cycles and made the old file read-only when every entry for the four weeks was in the new system.

Common mistakes

  • Moving everything at once

    Fourteen files in one go means fourteen things to check. One file in one area shows what the move really takes.

  • Moving a mess

    A new system keeps whatever you load into it. Clean the file first, on a copy, and decide how much history to bring.

  • Running both for ever

    Without an exit test the old file stays alive. Write the number of cycles and what must be true before you start.

  • Retyping numbers that live elsewhere

    A sheet that only copies figures from another file should be connected to the source, not rebuilt in a new place.

  • No baseline

    If you do not work out two or three numbers from the old file first, you cannot show later whether the move helped.

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FAQ

Moving from Excel to one system checklist: common questions

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