3.1 Collecting Relevant Data
An essential part in creating the VSMs for the 9G process was to obtain existing data. There were a few ways in which we gained information. The first, we acquired data directly from the company. To do this we talked with the operation managers of each plant as well as the floor managers. We met with the managers and remained in contact through e-mail. The operation managers, Larry Zhong and Chaozhong Dai, for the two factories F6 and F4, respectively, provided us with production data as well as quality data. When we visited the production lines, it allowed our team to record observations as well as conduct time studies on each specific line. We split our team into 3 groups of two people, in which each group recorded information on the three individual members: chassis, intermediate and cabinet.