MOTIVATION One day in manufacturing data hell Sources of information about a manufacturing business Problems with current practices Categories of manufacturing data Quantities of manufacturing data Four challenges Shortcomings of academia Shortcomings of managers The proper balance of effort RETRIEVING AND PREPARING THE DATA Data, information and knowledge Types of data Sources Retrieving the data Cleaning the data MAKING THE DATA TALK Use of visualization techniques rather than decision theory Use of query language to sort, filter, cross-reference, and tabulate Multiple forms of Pareto analysis, by brand, product families, products, options, component consumption, etc. Analysis of similarities between products Time-series analysis of historical data on production, sales, quality, maintenance, employee turnover, etc. Work sampling and analysis based on snapshots Age-analysis of snapshot data Use of the Excel analysis package Use of specialized statistical packages like Minitab, SAS, or Statistics PRESENTING THE FINDINGS Edward Tufte¿s do¿s on presentation: Edward Tufte¿s don¿ts on presentation: Summarizing in metrics Validating the findings through direct observation Considering future plans, not just history Driving changes in logistics and production.