SOLUTION
Barbara Cooper, the new CIO of TMS started by trying to identify the problems. Cooper realized
that a data warehouse was needed. A data warehouse is a central repository of historical data,
organized in such a way that it is easy to access (using Web browser) and it can be
manipulated for decision support. (See the discussion of data warehousing later in this chapter
and in Chapter 5) Cooper also saw that software tools to process, mine and manipulate the data
were needed. A system was therefore set up to provide real-time, accurate data. Unfortunately,
the system included years of human errors that had gone unnoticed, including inconsistent
duplicated data as well as missing data. This resulted in erroneous result and analysis. In addition, the new system lacked capabilities to provide what managers needed. By 1999, it had
become clear that the solution did not work. It was the right concept but used the wrong
technology from the wrong vendors. In 2002, Toyota switched to a better technology. The new
TLS system used Oracle’s data warehouse and Hyperion’s business intelligence platform. The
system also included Hyperion’s dashboard feature (discuss in Chapter 6 and 9), which allows
executives to visually see hot spots in their business units and investigate further to identify
problems and their causes.
With the new TLS system, which uses color meaningfully (e.g., red for danger), a
business manager can see in real-time, for example, when delivery times are slowing and can
immediately find the sources of the problems and even evaluate potential solutions by using
“what-if” analysis