Visualizing Production Planning Data

Visualization of production planning data for decision making in manufacturing is nearly nonexistent. The planning problems at the Electronic Card Assembly and Test plant (ECAT) at IBM Austin, Texas, prompted the research project reported in this article. The project studied the characteristics of this type of managerial data, then developed special visualization techniques for constructing visual representations to support planners in developing superior production plans. A visualization prototype called VIZ planner was designed, implemented and empirically evaluated in a laboratory setting. Using this tool, hundreds of products, thousands of components, and many other factors can be visualized to provide planners with production planning insight