a Tool for managing production and distributing work in factories
Product: Infor Factory Track
Timeframe: Oct 2016 – Feb 2017
Task: Design new factory shop floor solution
Role: Information Architect / Systems Designer
Location: New York City
Activities: User research, process analysis, systems design, UX design, wire framing, user testing
Factory Track is a job tracking, distribution and execution tool for factories. It directs workers to various jobs and report their progress, while providing supervisors with real-time status and health of production activity. My team was tasked to redesign the existing dated solution with emphasis on optimized UX and automated machine integration.
PROJECT
SCOPE
Requirements:
Product must be able to flexibly fit into multiple industrial contexts (e.g. be able to work in an automotive factory as well as a high volume production line like food & bev).
Interface must be tablet based
Must account for both production workers and supervisors
Users must be able to view jobs, job details, status, and be able to start, pause or complete jobs.
Must be able to view job documents (e.g. blue prints or instructions)
Must direct users to where a job is, and where it goes next once it’s completed an operation
Must be able to also interface with machines
Application BACKGROUND
Shop floor integrates with an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planner), which is a system used to issue production orders and recognize complete inventory. After a production order is triggered by an ERP, the Shop Floor solution receives it and releases a job to the production floor, which directs works and machines on what to build. When a machine or worker receives a job, it is then run and eventually completed or rejected. The quantity completed or rejected is then updated in the ERP system. The shop floor solution is the ERP’s interface to the people and machines on the floor.
What type of manufacturing environments will ThE
Shop floor Solution need to ACcOMMODATE?
Repetitive Manufacturing:
High volume production (e.g. pharmaceuticals, food & bev, consumer packaged goods, electronic components etc.)
Each production order contains 500,000 + qualities
Site Visits: Medium size pharmaceutical contract manufacturer
Discrete Manufacturing:
Production of distinct items
Each item is a unique production order (e.g. one jet engine)
More manual and/or customized labor
Typically more labor steps for each production order. Involves installing and combining various components and parts
Job shop oriented
Example industries: Automotive (building a car), Aerospace & Defense, Electronic Devices, Industrial components.
Site Visits: Industrial lifts manufacturer
Research & Discovery
Product Analysis:
Reverse engineering product to learn how it works
Define what steps and actions are required to view and start jobs
Conduct UX analysis (usability, layout, number of steps, etc)
I began the discovery phase by doing a deep dive into the core product to learn about all the required steps, actions and type of information required to use the existing shop floor solution. This was done by reviewing recordings of product demos and trialing product in a dev environment.
User Research:
Two site visits: (1) An industrial lift manufacturer (2) A pharmaceuticals manufacturer
Observed different needs for working on a high-volume production line vs working in a low volume job shop where each product is assembled in a station
In both cases customers needed a solution that would replace paper and be simple for people to start, stop and complete a job, and indicate how many parts they manufactured.
We visited two customer with very different operational processes to understand how the tool we were building could be flexibly applied to both. We first visited a traditional job shop that would assemble goods in workstations. This was a lower volume operation. Next, we visited a high-volume production line at a pharmaceutical plant. Although both facilities operated very differently, what production managers wanted was to replace paper and have digitized tools that would allow them to easily track the status of all the jobs in the facility. To report our finding, we produced personas and operations maps to understand the end-to-end process of how jobs are created via production orders and distributed to different workstations and people throughout the facility.
Research Insights
Operations Analysis: Mapping out what operations take place in a repetitive manufacturing facility. This one was based on one of the site visits. The steps in green are those taking place in the Shop Floor solution.
User Profile: Produced user profiles to get context on what they do, role and responsibilities and pain points.
Mapping out a discrete manufacturing operation: this diagram was created to map out where the shop floor solution is interfaced in a factory, and what type of interfaces it will need to support.
Design
Product Architecture
In order to define a clearer vision and size of the application, I created a diagram illustrating the product architecture and key sections. This helps define what key screens are needed in the design.
Site map of the application. This is required to define sections for the application and related screens. This helps define what key screens need to be designed for the application.
System Data Architecture
The shop floor solution needs to be connected to an ERP system that will direct what jobs are released to the floor. The shop floor solution then needs to direct back to the ERP job status. This way a plant manager can track what jobs are being done and their status.
System Data Architecture: The shop floor solution needs to be populated with data from an ERP system. This diagram maps out what data requirements are needed for the application.
WOrkflows
I developed 4 workflows illustrating multiple work scenarios that would demonstrate product features. These were later used as guiding rails to wire frame and build wire flows around.
Running a job on a machine
Working multiple jobs
Running a job in a resource center / group
Operator running a job on a production line
Object & Content Mapping
This diagram is a tool used to define what objects can be reused across screens. These objects can then be turned into components for easier standardization in dev.
Object and content mapping: This diagram is a tool used to define what objects can be reused across screens. These objects can then be turned into components for easier standardization in dev.
Wireframes
Referencing the site map, I designed key screens illustrating content and actions on screens. These were used as a foundation to build out workflows around.
Handoff
Project was handed to separate designer for production (UI & SPECS). Please contact me to view what the handoff document looks like.