IT's been a while, but I rememebr just creating excel files using ODBC to populate fields on startup.
IF they dont need to post something then its ok to view real time data ( hit F9 I believe to refresh data).
I created multiple spreadsheets to view, Inventory/Onhand,Commited, , Daily labor, REceived parts/isnpection , etc. HElped cut down on licenses when I've got people just viewing data and not entering anything in.