Apex Vacuum, a family-owned manufacturer of budget vacuums, has ...

[RRMR]

Apex Vacuum, a family-owned manufacturer of budget vacuums, has grown exponentially over the last few years. However, the company is having difficulty preparing for future growth.
 
  The only information system used at Apex is an antiquated accounting system. The company has one manufacturing plant located in Arkansas; and three warehouses, in Arkansas, Delaware, and California. The Apex sales force is national, and Apex purchases about a third of its vacuum parts and materials from a single overseas supplier. You have been hired to recommend the information systems Apex should implement in order to maintain their competitive edge. However, there is not enough money for a full-blown, cross-functional enterprise application, and you will need to limit the first step to a single functional area or constituency. What will you choose, and why?

Question 2

What are the six key design tips recommended for designing a dashboard?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[bfulkerson77]

Answer to Question 1

Student answers will vary. E.g. A TPS focusing on production and manufacturing to keep production costs low while maintaining quality, and for communicating with other possible vendors. The TPS would later be used to feed MIS and other higher level systems.

Answer to Question 2

Choosing key performance indicators that are most important to the organization and the person using the dashboard is the most important success factor. Dashboards make data look good, but the charts and graphs are only as useful as the quality of the underlying data. Users should ask for warnings when data is stale or not altogether reliable. The dashboard should be updated as often as needed for the user's situation-daily, hourly, or minute by minute, if necessary. In order to avoid information overload, seven or fewer graphs, charts, maps, or tables should be used on one dashboard. Another key in designing a dashboard is to keep tables and charts simple, as well as to avoid 3D and unnecessary animations. When relevant, actual maps, seating plans, campus layouts, or other visual displays that combine real images with data should be populated.

[RRMR]

TYSM

[Jossy]

Excellent