Subject - Data Analytics.

Read the following case then follow the instructions at the bottom.

Ahmed is a Production Manager at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) in Cambridge Ontario. He is in charge of the manufacturing on the production line of the Toyota Rav4, and the Lexus RX 350 SUV (Lexus is a sub-brand owned and manufactured by Toyota.) On average, TMMC Cambridge manufactures 1900 vehicles per day and is very efficient in its production process. There are few quality control issues, and manufacturing problems and delays are infrequent. So, when Ahmed noticed that something was wrong in the production process, he was surprised that no one noticed until now.

Ahmed is well acquainted with Toyotas process of lean manufacturing called Kanban a process that minimizes the amount of inventory stored throughout the production process. In keeping with the Kanban process, he advocates for kaizen continual improvement to ensure that manufacturing processes become for effective and more efficient over time. For the last three weeks, hes noticed a production process issue that is not kaizen and is affecting TMMC Cambridges ability to achieve their Kanban goal. The Rav4 and RX350 manufacturing lines have been regularly producing approximately 1900 cars per day, which is normal, so it would seem as though nothing was amiss. However, he has been noticing a slow buildup of inventory in their onsite warehouses. Typically, TMMC will have two days worth of power trains engines and transmissions stored in their warehouses. This would be enough power trains to manufacture cars for two days without new shipments. For the last three weeks, they have had three to four days stored, which is much higher than normal. Similarly, they have way more wheels and tires than they should usually they would only have six hours worth of wheels and tires, now they have over a days worth in their warehouses! TMMCs just-in-time inventory was becoming less and less so, it seemed to be moving towards a with-lots-of-time inventory system. Which increases warehousing and parts costs, negatively affecting cash flow.

At peak speed, TMMC Cambridge is able to produce up to 2400 cars per day, though quality control tends to degrade at those speeds more mistakes happen leading to defects and injuries. The number of orders coming into the manufacturing plant usually dictates the number of cars produced. Over the last three weeks, the plant has been manufacturing an average number of cars (1900 per day), but that is below the number of orders that are coming in from dealerships around North America. TMMCs parts suppliers are keeping up with the orders, and so they are delivering the parts on time, however, TMMC is not keeping up with the car assembly, which is leading to a buildup of parts inventory in their warehouses.

There are no production problems, everything on the manufacturing line was working just fine. It seemed like everyone was just working slower, not because everyone was tired or lazy, they just didnt realize that they were behind. Even Ahmed, the Production Manager didnt notice the problem for several weeks! Ahmed was pretty sure he knew of a solution. Hanging over the north entrance to the manufacturing floor was a large LED electronic billboard. It continually displayed three pieces of information: 1) the current date; 2) the number of cars produced so far today, and; 3) the number of minutes that the manufacturing line had been shut down or delayed today. Usually, that third number is zero it is a big deal to shut down or delay the manufacturing line and TMMC is good about always keeping it up and running. So, this billboard indicated to employees whether or not the line was operating properly, and whether employees were building the well-known average number of cars per day (1900). But they dont know whether or not they were keeping up with the number of orders coming in, or whether or not inventory was building up in their warehouses. This was why everyone is working slowly, they thought that they were working fast enough to achieve a false goal of 1900 cars per day, when in fact the orders required more cars to be built.

Ahmed was convinced that if all of the workers on the factory floor knew that they were behind on their orders, they would work faster. However, he was also aware that as manufacturing speeds increased, so too did quality control problems and workplace injuries. He wanted to come up with a new dashboard display for the north-entrance electronic billboard that would keep factory workers better updated at all times. He had access to real-time data feeds for inventory levels of parts in their warehouses, current vehicle orders, quality control problems, workplace injuries, and every other conceivable piece of information about TMMCs business. He just had a few questions to think through. What information does he need to share with factory workers? How should it be displayed on the LED billboard? He only has limited space on the billboard, so why should he choose certain pieces of information over others? How is he going to convince his boss that his new dashboard display will improve productivity at TMMC Cambridge?

Questions (if you cant make a dashboard, just teach me or give me instructions on how to do both this questions)

1. Create a mock-up of a digital dashboard that shows real-time production information that will help Ahmed with his production problem. Describe in words why you chose the dashboard design. In your description, use the four As (Affordances, Accessibility, Aesthetics, and Acceptance) to justify your design.

2. Describe in words a pitch presentation for convincing Ahmeds boss that your dashboard design is a good idea note that you dont actually have to create a slide deck. Describe the narrative arc that your pitch presentation will follow. Consider using bullet points for the titles of each of the slides that would be in your slide deck, you dont need to add slide content as the title should be enough. Create a logical order for the story by rearranging the title bullet points.