A picture is worth thousand words - Part III

Would you prefer reading through the 14 step given below or just viewing the picture of the process?

Picture showing flow of material and information at company "Funplace" that makes toys

Steps describing the flow of information and material in Funplace
1.Funplace electronically sends a 4-week order forecast to XYZ toys. The quantities
are confirmed on a weekly basis and the purchase order is placed.
2.Based on this input, XYZ Toys electronically orders the parts from their
suppliers. XYZ Toys sends a 3-week forecast and confirms the quantity every week.
3.XYZ holds at least 2 days worth of raw material inventory in the warehouse.
4.Production control manually issues finished good quantities required on a weekly
basis. This information is sent to production.
5.Based on the production volumes required each week, the production manager
prepares for manufacturing. He gets his team together and the line leader Nick
plans for production. Per the daily production volume, Nick requests the warehouse
to issue raw material to the assembly line.
6.The assembly process consists of 4 primary steps…
- Gear assembly : putting gears in the plastic body of the toy
- Audio assembly : assembling the audio system in the toy
- Testing
- Packing
7. Everyday a truck shipment of 2000 toys is sent to Funplace.

A picture is worth thousand words - Part II

To convey a message, it is usually recommended to use pictures or diagrams rather than plain words. Are pictures really better than words?

We are used to learning faster with pictures.
Just like small kids learn to read looking at colorful pictures, adults understand better with pictures.

In a corporation, every level uses pictures that make sense to them and communicate what they need to know to do a better job.
Managers look at dashboards giving them information about an area, a location or the overall company.
Staff look at diagrams or charts to track critical process information. People doing the job look at pictures in their work areas as aids to guide them perform a given task.

Pictures enables everyone in an organization get the information they need very quickly. People looking at these pictures only need to be responsive when the picture calls for action.

Do you use pictures for getting critical information about your process, product or service?