Strategy: Real-Time Production Data

For the past year, we’ve been working with a third-party software company to develop a comprehensive platform to analyze our production data and also display it in real-time on TV monitors and various computer screens throughout our labs.

The visible data is relevant to each department. For example, each ceramist has a laptop into which they enter case data. On the monitor in their department, they can see the cases scheduled for the day, how many have been completed and still need to be completed, as well as their personal target goals and what their team members are producing.

The managers have a higher level of access, enabling us to avoid bottlenecks and reduce waste. For instance, if we have a certain amount of cases for a specific day, we can tell by the data whether or not all that work is moving from one stage to the next. If we’re missing targets, we can react immediately to keep our workflow on track. There’s less chaos in the...