Production Information Systems Usability in Jordan - Enterprise Information Systems Design, Implementation and Management: Organizational Applications - page 272

Production Information Systems (PIS) are
defined as systems that work with production and
operations information. PIS collect information
from end terminals (like point of sale terminals
- POS, shop floor machines, and operation and
factory sensors) and store in transaction processing
machines and then feed some management infor-
mation systems (MIS) or other types of functional
systems like: decision support systems (DSS),
and enterprise resource planning systems (ERP)
(Turban, Leidner, McLean & Wetherbe, 2008).
The output of PIS is used to support managers in
the process of decision making and to improve the
managerial functions in the firm. The described
architecture is not a unique one, as many disputes
are related to the difference between functional
systems and management information systems, as
an example, PIS can get input data from transaction
processing systems (TPS) and generate reports and
output that can be used in the managerial decision
making process. Some academicians describe all
these systems as MIS, even enterprise resource
planning systems (ERP).
Many definitions were reported in the litera-
ture for PIS like the definition used by Ciurana,
Garcia-Romeu, Ferrer and Casadesus (2008)
which indicates that PIS are systems that are
related to transferring raw material into products
with special specifications.
PIS are defined as data processing network
systems (Hssain, Djeraba & Descotes-Genon,
1993, pp. 1). It seems that it is a simple defini-
tion but, the authors add further that it includes
other components like the input data from process
devices (sensors and terminals). On the other
hand, the output is meaningful information used
in decision-making. The authors report three
methodological requirements related to design
of PIS: managing the large volume of data and
knowledge compounding the core of the network,
coping with high complexity of operations, and
providing reliable and available data and knowl-
edge inputs to the PIS. Hsu and Rattner (1990)
conclude that to meet these requirements, design

of PIS should be a part of a global design approach
within total-system architecture.
PIS aim at planning and scheduling and orga-
nizing for operations with related issue of work
orders to shop floors and production (Ciurana,
Garcia-Romeu, Ferrer & Casadesus, 2008). The
importance of PIS comes from the role that it plays
in facilitating the process of design and production
of products, and forwarding it to customers (the
distribution function). Research related to PIS
focused on the applications related to the theory
of planning and production control, where the
main objective is reducing costs and risks, this
is applied in more than one industry and type
(Wang & Hu, 2008). On the other hand, research
stressed the importance of providing the correct
and timely information through the installation
of sensors on the production line, or the use of
web-based systems. Research emphasized the
importance of synchronization of information
systems to guarantee the required reduction of
cost and the needed customer satisfaction (Mourtiz
et al., 2008).
PIS can aid in the reduction of cost and fa-
cilitation (smoothing) of the flow of material
in the manufacturing process. Also, the flow of
information and material is becoming more vital
to the production process when considering the
global perspective or the supply chain manage-
ment concept (SCM). A study that explored mobile
communication technology importance in the
integration process when transferring information
and material between suppliers and customers,
concluded that it is very important to utilize the
benefits of PIS to reduce cost and gain integra-
tion between partners (Ende, Jaspers & Gerwin,
2008). In another study that explored the applica-
tion of fuzzy logic concepts within a smart agent,
solutions were provided for production problems
utilizing previous solutions to previous problems
(Lu & Sy, 2008). Authors concluded that it is useful
in the industrial environment to provide decision
makers with information residing in PIS to make
accurate and timely decisions.