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.
As engineering manager for a company that manufactures motorcycles, Jay is accountable for managing the engineering budget, which includes meeting the schedule for parts required by assembly and the overtime necessary if the schedule is not met. For the past three months, Jay has been over budget, parts have been sent to assembly late and overtime has increased.