Production Overview
Backstory
The physical production floor provided all of the visual information a production manager needed to assess the status of every job in the company at a glance. Completed boxes of documents were stored in one section of a staging area, boxes to be worked on in another, and boxes in progress were visible on work tables next to each operator’s copy/scan/print multifunction device (MFD). Consequently, managers and customers expected up-to-the-minute progress reports as well as a continually-updated estimated time of completion.
Problem
Interactive visual communication and control from one screen
Having a wealth of detailed information available is a double-edged sword. On one edge there is the promise of being able to answer many questions given the rich data. On the other is the number and type of questions having that information affords. In this situation there were several types of jobs (scan, copy, print, convert documents to TIFFs, etc.) with different requirements. We needed to create an interactive display that would quickly convey high-level information to the user but also serve as an entry to more detailed information, as well as communication with operators, review and approval of completed work, and active control of tasks.
Solution
Visual Status
A job was defined by the tasks that needed to be performed on the boxes received. There were seven states for the intersection of a box and a task. The production overview needed to display the job so that it could be taken in at a glance.
- Light Gray – Task not included in the project
- Blue – Task included in the project but not ready to be assigned
- Bright Yellow – Task ready to be assigned
- Shaded Yellow – Task assigned
- Bright Yellow with Gear – Task in progress
- Bright Yellow with “done” – Task assignment completed, ready for review
- Dark Gray – Task approved and complete
Interactive Control
Any square on the production overview grid could be double-clicked to open an audit screen displaying information about the job, such as who assigned and was assigned the job, the start and end times, instructions, and a view of the associated data or images. We added instant message capability to allow communication with operators and to view and even control boxes in progress via remote connection. The production manager was afforded complete visibility and control over the entire production floor without having to be physically present.
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