One of the firms, the whiteware manufacturer, tracked its key performance indicators on a real time basis. Additionally, for one if its key performance indicators, namely its throughput rates, the company used centrally located, color-coded displays to provide real time information on the throughput rates of its two main production cells. More specifically, the displays showed the cumulative throughout rate for a given production run, with the number appearing in either green or red depending on whether the throughput rate was ahead of or behind budget