1 | Num Metrics: Specify the total number of metrics you are dealing with for your process or department. You can specify up to 20 metrics on one tool. If you have more metrics, you need to pick the most important ones to track here. |
2 | Update Period: Specify the frequency of measurement of the metrics. Currently, the frequency that can be specified is Weekly, Biweekly (once in two weeks), Monthly, and Quarterly. Ensure that the frequency of measurement is sufficient so that corrective action can be taken if the metrics are off-track. Note that only one frequency can be specified for the entire worksheet. If one metric is measured quarterly while another metric is measured monthly, then you need to use the most frequently measured metric as the frequency for the entire worksheet. The quarterly metric values will not change every month but will be fixed for each quarter. |
3 | Metric:
For each metric, you need to specify the type of metric that is measured. There are four types of metrics: Largest, Nominal, Smallest, and Text. The largest type of metrics is those metrics for which the largest value is the best. An example of this type of metric is "Revenue". Larger revenue is better for the organization. The next type of metric is "Nominal". Nominal metrics are those metrics for which an optimal value exists. Any values that are too large or too small away from the nominal value are not good for the organization. An example of a nominal metric is temperature. For example, the ideal temperature may be between 18 degrees Centigrade to 24 degrees Centigrade. If the temperature is too high or too low, then it is not optimal for the occupants. The third type of metric is the "Smallest". For this type of metric, the smallest possible value is the best for the organization. An example of the smallest metric is the defect rate. Smaller defect rates are better for the organization. Finally, the fourth type of metric is called "Text". This is a discrete type metric that can only take a limited set of discrete values. An example of the discrete metric is project phase - say "Plan", "Do", "Check", "Act". |
4 | Thresholds: After specifying the type of metric, you now need to specify the transition points for each metric that will change the color of the actual values. For example, if you specify a largest type metric, the lowest set point is automatically set at -infinity and the highest set point is automatically set at +infinity. The second transition point defines the transition from red to yellow color and the third transition point defines the transition from yellow to green color. For example, if the transition points for the largest type metric are -inf, +5, +10, +inf. Then any actual values less than +5 will have a red color, any values between 5 and 10 will have a yellow color, and any values greater than 10 will be shown in green color. If the transition points are defined as -inf, +50%, +100%, +inf. Then the transition values for the colors depend on the plan values defined on the worksheet. If the plan value defined on the worksheet is +200. Then the transition points are -inf, 100 (which is 50% of 200), 200 (which is 100% of 200), and +inf. So, any actual values less than 100 are colored in red, all values between 100 and 200 are colored in yellow, and all values greater than 200 are colored in green. |
5 | View Example: Click on this button to open the example file. You can view the example to get an idea of how to fill out this tool or you can use the example as a starting point and modify it to meet your project needs. |
6 | Help Button: Click on this button to view the help file for this topic. |
7 | Cancel Button: Click on this button to cancel any changes and exit the dialog box. |
8 | OK Button: Save any changes you have made in the dialog box and compute the analysis outputs. |
Type | Red Color | Yellow Color | Green Color |
---|---|---|---|
Largest | A < t2 | t2 ≤ A < t3 | A ≥ t3 |
Smallest | A > t3 | t2 < A ≤ t3 | A ≤ t2 |
Nominal | A > t4 or A < t1 | t1 ≤ A < t2 or t3 < A ≤ t4 | t2 ≤ A ≤ t3 |
Text | A = t3 | A = t2 | A = t1 |