- THE MAGAZINE - WEB EXCLUSIVES Anyone who has faced a
production problem with a need to solve it by using production
data can relate to the notion of a brain teaser. The brain
teasers presented here are based on real-world situations
encountered by workers in manufacturing environments. The brain
teasers have three parts: (1) the situation, (2) available data
or other supporting information, and (3) questions that various
workers need answered for continual improvement. Recommended
solutions follow in the next issue and on the Web at Quality
Online (www.qualitymag.com). SituationOn a recent monthly report
Roxanne, the production manager for a company that manufactures
mobile technology equipment, noticed that the total number of
units sold in January 2009 was lower than the total number of
units sold in both January 2008 and January 2007. She then
started looking at other months and discovered that the number
of units sold in December 2008 was the lowest value for the
entire time period. At the next monthly