Enhancing the order-to-delivery process with real-time performance measurement based on digital visualization

Figures & data

Figure 1. The design science approach as a step-by-step research flowchart.

Table 1. The data collection phases and research methods.

Data collection phase	Method	Researcher’s role	Informants	Themes
Studying the problem in context	Focus group 1 for initial planning (context of the intervention)	Facilitators and providing analysis	CEO, factory manager, sales manager, and sexternal service provider company member	Aim of the intervention, and definition of the key concepts
Designing intervention in collaboration with practitioners	Focus group 2 for designing the pilot and participants (content of the intervention)	Facilitators	Factory manager and service manager	The key objectives of the intervention
	Utilization of secondary data	Providing analysis		The key steps of the process, and the existing performance measurement of the process
	Focus group 3 for presenting the intervention protocol	Facilitators, and providing analysis	Operational level: Two service technicians, two service engineer, dispatcher, and service manager Sales: Two sales engineers and two area sales managers. Management: Sales manager, factory manager, and CEO	Presenting the aim, the key objectives, and the designed intervention protocol to the participants
Observing outcomes	Two weeks’ observation of the service process	Observer	Different process step workers	The key steps of the process in practice, the functionality of the process in practice, and the development needs
	Semi-structured interviews	Interviewer	Operational level: Two service technicians, two service engineers, dispatcher, and service manager Sales: Two sales engineers and two area sales managers. Management: Sales manager, factory manager, and CEO	Current state: Information needs and The challenges of employees and managers in daily operations Target state: Development targets of daily operations, required process information, possible indicators to monitor and control the process in real time, and data availability
Revisiting to observe how solution developed	Focus group 4 for reflecting the pilot	Facilitators	Factory manager, service manager, and external service provider company member	Further development of the concept

Table 2. The focal points of the OTD process.

Category	Focal point	Description
External	Customer impact on the process	Communication
		Customer responsiveness
		Customer access to the process
	Supplier impact on the process	Communication
		Responsiveness of suppliers
		Supply of spare parts
	Fluctuations in demand	Variation in the number of maintenance products
		Variation in the size of maintenance products
		Dynamic nature of the maintenance service
Internal	Interfaces between departments	Dialogue
		Understanding
	Non-basic operations	Quick work
		Work done at the customer’s place of business
		Work other than basic processes
	Resources	Shortage
		Traceability
		Flexibility
	Workload	Amount of workload and its variability
		Uncertainty and traceability
	Lead times	Measurement of the lead times and target times
		Traceability of lead times and achievement of target times
	Information acquisition	Information is scattered across different locations
		Information is hard to find
		Case-by-case traceability of information
		Poor reliability of information
	Human factors	Employees’ ability
		Communication and information sharing

Table 3. Visualization framework for real-performance measurement: Entities, dimensions, and measures.

Dimensions	The designed measures (entity 1)	The designed measures (entity 2)	The designed measures (entity 3)
Maintenance product	Specific product information Type, category, etc. Type of maintenance Basic maintenance, extensive maintenance, re-manufacturing, scrapping, etc. Process steps information Current status (e.g. received, disassembled) Status change Timeline of status progression Lead times compared to target times Location Spare parts and subcontracting information Ordering information Arrival information
Resources		The amount of human resources required Weekly, monthly Assembly, disassembly Resource availability People, machinery Rate of reserve	Workload compared to capacity
Workload	Waiting lists Workload Work hours Number of maintenance products	Future maintenance
Warehouse			Number of products Work in progress Product position and status WIP Status of warehouse locations Free/booked
Process	Lead time Individual Product categories Overall Offers On-time deliveries	Deflection information Internal Customers Suppliers Jobs other than the basic process	Performance Productivity Overall Personal 5S Safety/accident Flexibility Employees Organization Specific theme information
Employees		Presence At work/away On holiday Business trip	Employee satisfaction Capability
Sales and finance		Orders received Order book Billing Profit margin Maintenance-specific Salesperson-specific Overall	Sales forecasts Upcoming maintenance Need for extra resources Sales budgets Track achievement Salesperson-specific customer development Economic outlook Net sales Costs Profitability Operating profit
Customer			Reclamation Customer feedback