production capacity, inventory, and lead-time data. The shop floor control component releases orders to the shop floor based on the detailed production schedule and the actual production accomplished thus far. It is at this point that the blueprinted information of the business is passed along to the employees who enter it into the machines for production purposes. Each unit is then put together by hand but can be checked according to data specs and read outs. Data warehousing is another part of the Evans IT strategic plan. Within this system, Evans enters and records information concerning all areas of each individual project. Such things as materials used, processing time, time allocated for each step, employee time allocated, and which division of the production was being used are all monitored. All this is done and entered in IBM's Oracle software. Within this system, the user can produce customized reports from the data warehouse to fit what managers need. At Evans, this is done on a weekly basis in order to verify the time and money invested in each project and to ensure that they are not over budget or running behind. This is a key component to the IT advantage in that it helps managers manage each project individually without loosing track of any specific detail. Executive information systems are systems that deliver on-line current information about business conditions in an aggregate form easily accessible to senior executives and other managers. It is designed to be used directly by these managers without the assistance of intermediaries. EIS functions as a hands-on tool which focuses, filters, and organizes an executive's information so they can make more effective use of it. At Evans, this information is accessible depending on the organizational position in which you sit because of password blocks. It is part of their IT strategy because it allows users to examine data without having to ask for it, t...
