Data Collection Plan and Job Qualifications for Production Expansion at Kibby and Strand

INSTRUCTIONS: The data collection plan lists all the data items required for the sub-plans in the Group Project Operations Manual. The key things you want in this type of plan are the data items to be collected, what they measure operationally, frequency of collection, method of collection, and who collects them. Your plan should include high, medium, and detailed level data metrics to be collected. Include 4-5 data metrics from each of the three departments that demonstrate you understand the different levels of metrics. You do not have to populate the metrics with fake or made-up data.
An example of a detailed metric is the utilization of an individual machine, while utilization of all machines in a department is considered a medium-level metric. A high-level metric would be the throughput of the departments, such as the number of orders produced for the week.
An example template for a data collection plan provided in separate attachment.
The key item in the template is the Operational Definition of the data metric. The needs explain how the metric is to be measured. Avoid collecting raw data numbers such as the number of items because raw counts do not provide much information to make decisions. It is better to use percentages, ratios, averages, etc. when providing context for the data.
The required items should be prepared in a single Microsoft™ Word document. There is no minimum or maximum in terms of the word count; however, the response should explicitly address all required components of the assignment. The document should be prepared consistent with the APA writing style and reflect higher-level cognitive processing (analysis, synthesis, and or evaluation).
Students are to complete the (Scenario) in Practice Operations. (Here is a link to view the scenario- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XedMHVOlAoA)
Based on observations in the scenario, the student is to consider him – or herself to be the Production Manager of Kibby and Strand (the fictitious clothing company in the scenario).
The CEO is thinking of expanding Kibby and Strand, and you are tasked to create a data collection plan and measurement criteria for how production output and product quality will be measured. In addition, the HR manager asks for a list of qualifications and skill sets required for the Production Department Manager position. Create your job ad to include qualifications and desired skill sets.
The student is to create the data collection plan, measurement criteria, and job qualifications list based on knowledge learned in the scenario.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FROM THE INSTRUCTOR: You have two deliverables this week so please place them in the same Word file and attach to your initial post in the discussion. The first deliverable is a data collection plan, and the second is a job ad used by HR to hire new staff to operate and maintain equipment used in Kibby and Strand. On your data collection plan use the template provided and include high, medium, and detailed level data metrics to be collected. Include 4-5 data metrics from each of the three departments that demonstrate you understand the different levels of metrics. You do not have to populate the metrics with fake or made-up data. A detailed level metric would be something like the utilization value for a single cutting machine, while a medium level would be the utilization factor of all machines (cutting, sewing, etc.) in Production. A high level metric would be the percent of orders produced without quality issues.
The key item in the data collection template is the Operational Definition of the data metric. This needs to explain how the metric is to be measured. Avoid collecting raw data numbers such as the number of items because raw counts do not provide much information to make decisions. It is better to use percentages, ratios, averages, descriptive statistics, etc. in the Operational Definition to provide context for the data that can be measured.

1. What we seek is information we can use to make good decisions to manage operations. Generally, the staff will provide what we ask for, so we should put some thought into what data we ask them to provide. If we ask for too much data or our request is vague we are likely to receive vast amounts of raw data we have to distill into information, and this takes time on our part. This is why I put a lot of emphasis in how you measured and worded the Operational Definitions in the Data Collection Plan Template. Asking the staff to provide data that yields information we need to manage operations is our goal.
2. Collecting and distilling data into information takes time, so be mindful of that as you task your staff. What information do you need to determine if operations are running properly and enable you to make corrections quickly? Keep your data requests confined to answering those two questions to minimize impacts to the staff. Do not collect data if you’re never going to use it.
3. The Data Collection Plan lists all the data needed in the other operational plans we prepare in the course, so Data Collection Plans are usually large in most organizations. The historical production output data we need in the Forecasting Plan will be in the Data Collection Plan, as well as the data metrics we need to calculate capacity in the Capacity Planning Strategy Plan. All operational plans require data. Please let me know if you have questions on building a data collection plan.
   The reason for having you create a job ad is because often the HR staff does not know the qualifications and skillsets needed in operations. While HR will do the advertising, initial vetting of resumes, and actual hiring in the case of low level staff, they rely on the operational experts to identify the qualifications (education, physical lifting, etc.) and skillsets (mechanical skills, machine operation skills, etc.). The HR staff will take your list of qualifications and skills, then add benefits and sometimes pay information to create an actual job advertisement. Recommend you look on Indeed and similar websites that list jobs to see how job ads are written.