Allison Transmission

Manufacturing plant display monitors plus online management & reporting environment

The challenge

The company’s manufacturing operation relied on communicating information to workers about machine statuses on the plant floor using large monitors. Except these screens—both the hardware and software—were tied up in a dated, costly, proprietary system.

Upgrades were expensive. And when the physical monitors needed replacement (due to age or damage), each cost $10,000 or more.

Engineers asked: could we replicate the software and use simple, cheap TV monitors? Plus, if we’re writing the software, could we access the machine statuses from our desks or phones?

Our team answered "yes" and helped bring that vision to life.

The project

Overview

The project was two-fold:

  1. The plant displays
  2. The desktop/mobile application

Both were powered by the same underlying software application and architecture.

Plant displays

The first and higher priority phase of the project was replicating the plant displays using more efficient and less proprietary technology. Our team decided we could combine a web application and browser with digital signage technology to meet the needs.

Desktop/mobile app

The next aspect—and admittedly, the project manager’s dream—was the ability to essentially “browse” the plant remotely, from either his desk or mobile device. He wanted the ability to see the plant(s) at-a-glance—and be able to respond more quickly when machines required service.

Services

  • User research
  • Field research, including color, distance, and readability
  • HTML, CSS, & JavaScript
  • UX architecture
  • Visual design
  • Responsive design
  • Design system research

The solution

The final solution involved a lot of iteration and trial-and-error—from both the user-facing elements and the back-end software architecture. In the end, our team was able to deliver this project and bring their dream to life.

This project is especially meaningful because it symbolizes all that can go well when people listen to one another, work together, and get creative.

We even had a new test TV monitor break mid-project—because a fork-lift collided with it (apparently that's a somewhat-regular occurrence). The plant manager simply shrugged and said: "...glad it was one of the new ones. That's why we're doing this project".

Project deliverables

All in all, the team accomplished and delivered the following:

  • A new, scalable, modern software application to operate the plant management screens
  • A flexible, modern-powered screen design that can evolve to meet the company's changing needs
  • The new screens are even adaptable and more accessible—with the ability to configure text size based on monitor placement
  • A brand-new web-based desktop and mobile app that empowers managers to browse machine statuses across the entire plant floor
  • The ability to add, remove, change, or swap out display hardware at a fraction of the cost and free from the limitations of the old proprietary system

The final product

Manufacturing floor monitors

These are the actual monitors casting our web app via the digital signage software.

Two near-production displays placed on the factory floor.
Two near-production displays placed on the factory floor.
A production display mounted to the production floor wall
A production display mounted to the production floor wall.
A double-display showing 16 different machines.
A double-display showing 16 different machines.
One of our first test displays
One of our first test displays

Screen management application

The internal screen management administration application we designed.

A screen showing a desktop-style interface at the entire plant level.
A screen showing a desktop-style interface at the entire plant level.
A configuration screen allowing a user to modify one specific machine.
A configuration screen allowing a user to modify one specific machine.
Showing how the various monitor screens were configured across a plant.
Showing how the various monitor screens were configured across a plant.
The app also allowed for various levels of report generation.
The app also allowed for various levels of report generation.

The dream screen

This was the screen they dreamt of from the beginning—the ability to virtually watch the entire plant at-a-glance.

A virtual version of every factory floor display across the plant.
A virtual version of every factory floor display across the plant.