DEFINE THE PROBLEM

Premium Water´s employees filled out paper forms to report production and downtime information for each hourly run. Once recorded, the employees also calculated budget, variance and percentage figures for each hourly run by hand, which resulted in occasional inaccuracies due to human error.

In addition, production information was scattered across numerous pages, which required storage space and prevented aggregate information from being collected. As a result management was only able to analyze individual sheets instead of production information as a whole.

SET CLEAR OBJECTIVES AND DEFINE SUCCESS

This type of information could easily be input into a database through a flexible, centralized form. Once the information is entered, the database performs all of the calculations accurately and stores the information in a centralized location. The customizable form made it possible to choose only the necessary time frame and product line, removing unneeded information on the form. In addition, inputting the production information electronically reduced the need for paper, ink and filing space.

Not only could using a database save time and resources, but information stored in a centralized location allows for quick and accurate reporting. By providing desired criteria, managers could get reports for specific time frames, items, or personnel to help them better understand where problems were arising and where success was greatest.

DEVELOP AND PROTOTYPE IDEAS

As the system developed and Premium Water´s personnel saw everything the database system had to offer, they came up with additional features. New ideas were integrated with the existing system and existing features were enhanced to meet changing criteria. During the development process, developers came up with additional features to make the system as user friendly as possible. Multiple report templates were created to meet managers needs and expectations so the user menu categorized reports into submenus to make them easier to find. Entering report criteria was set up to be as easy as possible, with forms customized to each report. These menus collected criteria using dropdown lists of options when available, making it easy for the user to get just the items they were looking for. In addition, easy to use forms were created to allow managers to manage lines, items, personnel, etc. These menus made it easy to add new information or modify or delete existing information. Managing this information is essential for them to always keep their system current with changes in product offers and personnel.

TAKE IT PUBLIC

We stored the database in a centralized location and setup multiple workstations with access to the centralized locations. In addition, two versions of the database were created – one for the production leads to use that only allowed them to enter information and create reports and another for managers that in addition allowed them to edit previously entered production information and make changes to the tables.

To be sure that our chosen implementation strategy would work in Premium Water´s network environment, we created a test environment using the same version of operating system and Access and tested using the database. By testing first, we were able to address issues before we arrived on site, making installation and setup at their facility as seamless as possible.