Improving Information Flow at the Color Me Mine Ceramics Studio
Kristen Koziol
Major Final Project Report
Info 643 Lisl Zach
Winter 2010
Executive Summary:
This report looks closely at the information needs and users of the Color Me
Mine pottery studio. After observing the information flow through the two primary
resources in the studio, the POS computer program, and the “daysheet” filing sheets,
I was able to determine gaps in the current system. Each piece of pottery must be
described. Most of the problems that occur as a result of a mistake in the description
process, result from one of two things. The first is that the descriptions are
handwritten and the second is that they are manually stored. By adding the
description to the automated POS system in addition to writing them on the
daysheet, an electronic record that includes the customer information, the pieces
the customer painted, and the description of the painting, is generated. This record
can be pulled up at any time. The second service to be implemented would be a
standardization of the descriptive language used by employees when describing
pieces. By setting some guidelines regarding description writing, clearer and better
comprehensible descriptions will result. This will save employees a great deal of
time, and therefore, money.
Topic #1: Information Users and Needs
There are many information users in the Color Me Mine ceramic studio, from
the President of the corporate office, down to those in the company’s franchises who
work with the actual pieces of pottery. After identifying these users and their needs,
I chose to focus on a specific portion of the process that did not involve all of the
users directly. However, in order to reach that point I had to go through the whole
company from top to bottom in order to find an area to focus on. In that process it
was necessary to identify all of the information users in the company and their
needs.
Founded in 1992, the first Color Me Mine store opened in Glendale,
California. The company then continued to expand by adding franchises and now
there are over 150 Color Me Mine ceramic studios throughout the United States, the
United Kingdom, Canada, Netherlands, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, South Korea,
Philippines, Kuwait, Taiwan and Australia. The company functions as a franchise.
This means that the individual owners are responsible for running the store. The
owners use the “Color Me Mine,” name and basis of ideas to build their business on.
In return the franchise owner, or franchisee, pays a total of 6% back to corporate.
The branches are all independently owned and operated, but follow corporate
guidelines.
Information Users and Needs in Color Me Mine Corporate:
President and COO (Mike Mooslin)
Executive Director of Franchise Development (Maria Baker)
Executive Directors of Franchise Sales and Coordination (Lindsay Craine &
Druzelle Atkins)
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As the President of Color Me Mine, Mike Mooslin works with the corporate
team whose main focus is the support of franchise holders. Mooslin presides over
the Directors of Franchise Sales and Coordination, Lindsay Craine & Druzelle Atkins,
and Maria Baker, the Executive Director of Franchise Development. Baker, Craine
and Atkins, in turn, maintain communications with the many franchise owners and
operators.
President’s Major Information Needs
 Franchise sales information
 Branch sales numbers
 Maintaining the major guidelines laid out on the company’s website;
mainly creating a safe and enjoyable space in which to embrace the
“art as entertainment,” concept.
Executive Directors of Franchise Development and Sale and
Coordination Major Information Needs
 Gathering and tracking franchise sales information
 Gathering and tracing branch sales numbers.
 Specific branch concerns,
 Branch and/or corporate promotions, sales, and major events and
happenings
 Information to ensure that the franchise owners and directors are
aware of relevant retail guidelines and operating within guidelines of
corporate policy.
Information Users and Needs in Color Me Mine Franchise
Because I chose to focus on improving an information service that takes place
within the franchise, the needs of the information users within the franchise are
explored on a more complete level than the needs of those at the higher level.
Included after the list of needs is a list of the corresponding goals of these users and
a list of questions that these users often ask and the answers that they seek.
Franchise Owner (Ellen Rosenblum)
Franchise Manager and Operator (Cale Kennedy)
Assoc. Franchise Managers (Molly Strobel & Kristen Koziol)
Customer Service Representatives, Glazers, Loaders, Packagers (Raelina
Krikston, Molly Bounds, Harris Rosenblum & Kayla Hirschenblaum)
Franchise Owner
Major Information Needs
 Corporate guidelines set for operating franchise
 Specific branch concerns
 Branch and/or corporate promotions, sales, and major events and
happenings
 Demographics of area surrounding franchise, local economic data in order to
gain information on potential customer base.
Related Goals
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To keep in compliance with corporate policy while creating and maintaining
an art studio that provides both enjoyable and quality service to its
customers.
 To make sure that employees are doing what they can to reach this goal
while earning profit.
Question/ Answer Examples:
Questions
Possible Answers
What kinds of demographics of
 Families
customers have been frequenting the
 Ladies “night out”
store?
 Children’s birthday parties
 Individuals
What are the latest promotions and
Painting a Tinkerbell fairy enters you in
events going on in the corporate office?
a raffle for free Tinkerbell movies

What are the latest promotions and
events going on at the local level?


Family Day- Thursdays- $12.00
studio fee for whole family
Paint for Brain Cancer Research
Weekend: 20% of profits go to
Research about Brain Cancer
Franchise Manager and Operator- Also functions as Customer Service
Representative, Glazer, Loader, Packager
Major Information Needs
 Corporate guidelines set for operating franchise
 Specific branch concerns
 Branch and/or corporate promotions, sales, and major events and
happenings
 Demographics of area surrounding franchise, local economic data in order to
gain information on potential customer base.
 Current customer requests
 Dates/ times/ techniques/ glazes used on each pottery piece prior to firing
 Basic kiln operating knowledge
 Basic painting technique knowledge
 Scheduling information for branch employees
Related Goals
 To keep in compliance with corporate policy while creating and maintaining
an art studio that provides both enjoyable and quality service to its
customers.
 To make sure that employees are doing what they can to reach this goal
while earning profit.
 To make sure that each piece painted by a customer is returned in a timely
manner with quality glaze and firing work being the main priority
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Question & Answer Examples
Questions
Which pieces did customers most often
request for purchase over the last
month?
Which employees can work on which
days of the week? Are there any other
special scheduling requests?
Have any pieces chipped, broken,
touched in the kiln?
Possible Answers
Penguin Bank, (5 requests), Bread Tray
w/ Handles (2), Mocha Mug (2).
Raelina can’t work before 3:00, Kayla
has class Tuesdays and Thursdays,
Harris is going out of town Labor Day
weekend.
One margarita glass fell over in the kiln
during firing, stuck to napkin holder.
Customers have been notified and
refunded.
Assoc. Franchise Managers- Also functions as Customer Service
Representative, Glazer, Loader, and Packager
Major Information Needs
 Specific branch concerns
 Branch and/or corporate promotions, sales, and major events and
happenings
 Demographics of area surrounding franchise, local economic data in order to
gain information on potential customer base.
 Current customer requests
 Dates/ times/ techniques/ glazes used on each pottery piece prior to firing
 Basic kiln operating knowledge
 Basic painting technique knowledge
Related Goals
 To keep in compliance with corporate policy while creating and maintaining
an art studio that provides both enjoyable and quality service to its
customers.
 To make sure that each piece painted by a customer is returned in a timely
manner with quality glaze and firing work being the main priority
Question & Answer Examples
Questions
Who painted the salt and peppershakers
with 83 masking?
What did John Johnson paint on 3/4?
Possible Answers
 Jill Jillin on 3/8,
 Steve Stevens on 3/10
 John Johnson on 3/4
 Large Platter: 72 with 55 and 43
sponging
 Tumbler: Kid painted, 90 with
some 61.
 Napkin Holder: 27 with Bumpy
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Where is the order for Stevens at right
now in the firing process?



Sky and Bumpy Berry dots, “John”
on bottom
Glazed, will be fired tomorrow,
ready in two days
Fired, ready to pick up
Glazed and loaded, will be fired
tonight?
Customer Service Representatives, Glazers, Loaders and Packagers
Major Information Needs
 Specific branch concerns
 Branch and/or corporate promotions, sales, and major events and
happenings
 Demographics of area surrounding franchise, local economic data in order to
gain information on potential customer base.
 Current customer requests
 Dates/ times/ techniques/ glazes used on each pottery piece prior to firing
 Basic kiln operating knowledge
 Basic painting technique knowledge
Related Goals
 To keep in compliance with corporate policy while creating and maintaining
an art studio that provides both enjoyable and quality service to its
customers.
 To make sure that each piece painted by a customer is returned in a timely
manner with quality glaze and firing work being the main priority
Question & Answer Examples
Questions
Who painted the salt and peppershakers
with 83 masking?
What did John Johnson paint on 3/4?
Where is the order for Stevens at right
now in the firing process?
Possible Answers
 Jill Jillin on 3/8,
 Steve Stevens on 3/10
 John Johnson on 3/4
 Large Platter: 72 with 55 and 43
sponging
 Tumbler: Kid painted, 90 with
some 61.
 Napkin Holder: 27 with Bumpy
Sky and Bumpy Berry dots, “John”
on bottom
 Glazed, will be fired tomorrow,
ready in two days
 Fired, ready to pick up
 Glazed and loaded, will be fired
tonight?
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Topic #2: Information Flow Analysis
This chart shows the information flow that occurs within the franchise. The
focus here is on the communication and information exchange that takes place
between those who work at the franchise. The information exchange that takes
place at a higher level in the company will not be included in the subject of this
report.
INFORMATION FLOW as pottery goes through process
Customer
Service
Associates
• Customer
info
• Description
of piece
• Date
painted
Kiln
Loaders
and
Glazers
Date
Painted
Customer
Service
Associates
• Description
matched to
customer name
• Pieces
organized
alphabetically
by customer
name
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Topic #3 Information Audit
For the audit portion of this report I have chosen to focus specifically on the
actual glazing, firing, turn-around process beginning with the painting of pieces, and
ending with the return of these pieces to the customers who painted them. In order
to keep track of each customer’s artwork the Customer Service Reps, the Glazers,
the Loaders and the Packagers need several pieces of information.
This information includes the customer’s contact info, the date the customer
painted, the pieces the customer painted, and the description of the painting. The
current system requires the employees to enter this information manually into the
POS, Point of Sales computer program. Customers manually enter their contact
information onto the Daysheets and employees fill out the rest of the form.
Currently, the POS is used to store the customer’s contact information, the
date that the customer painted, and the items that the customer painted. Whoever is
working as a Customer Service Rep at the time is responsible for entering that
information into the computer.
The Daysheets are manually written forms with a place for the customer’s
contact information, filled out by the customers themselves. There are also places
on the form for the Customer Service Rep to put the date and the name of the pieces
the customer painted. On the bottom of the form the Daysheets have a place for the
CSR to describe each customer painted piece, in order to be able to match the right
pieces to the right people. These sheets are then stored in a filing cabinet in the kiln
room and organized by days of the week. The sheets are then pulled from the filing
cabinet and paired back up with the pieces after they are done being fired. The sheet
is then stapled to a bag containing all of the customer’s pieces.
Right now there are several information problems with this system where
gaps exist in the information flow. The major gaps stem from the fact that the
descriptions are handwritten by employees, and then manually stored by employees
in the filing cabinet, separated by the days of the week. These two factors create
several issues.
The fact that the pieces are handwritten means that sometimes descriptions
are illegible and employees end up wasting time attempting to figure out what it
written. In other cases, the descriptions are not specific enough to match up with the
correct piece of pottery, or there are two of the same pieces painted similarly and
the descriptions do not mention any definitive differences. Since different
employees write the descriptions, the language and style variation can be confusing.
The manual storing system also contributes potential gaps in the information
flow through the studio. The daysheets are the only place where the records of the
descriptions are kept. The sheets are physically stored in a filing cabinet in the
backroom. Since employees are dealing with physical paper copies, they must
search for specific pieces manually. Additionally, if any of the handwritten paper
slips are lost or thrown away, there is no other record of the descriptions.
Topic #4: Information Service Recommendation
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In order to improve the information flow throughout the Color Me Mine
studio, I am proposing that the organization make two major changes in the way
that they conduct the pottery description process. Many of the clarity issues are
rooted in the fact that the Daysheets, one of the two major information resources in
the organization, are stored and filed manually. These sheets contain the only
description of the customer painted pieces. There is no record made in the POS
computer system of these descriptions.
By filing the descriptions in the computer with purchase record and by using
specific language in the descriptions, the information flow will be greatly improved
and the process will thus be smoother. These specific changes with be implemented
in order to produce that result.
The first is to ensure that the description be entered into the computer
system that already stores the customer's purchase with their contact information.
When customer purchase is entered in computer, employees should begin to include
the description of the pieces in the POS, entering the descriptions under the
“comment,” section available for each transaction. If these descriptions are stored
with the customer's contact and purchase information in the computer, this allows
the employees to use the search system that exists in the POS to locate or answer
questions about a specific piece quickly and efficiently.
The second is to create a set of standard terms that should be used in
descriptions instead of randomly generating one based on observations. In terms of
colors, the studio has available almost one hundred different colors of paint. Each
paint color is assigned a number by the manufacturer. Since there are, for example,
over thirteen shades of blue, if employees use the number assigned to the specific
colors, rather than saying “light blue,” the description is more specific and easier for
other employees to comprehend. All of the employees are well versed in the color
number system and therefore it is more specific to say “90” which is the true red, as
opposed to 98 which is an orange red, or 81 which is a light red.
Another way to specifically describe the pottery is to use the terms that Color
Me Mine uses for different techniques that customer’s can try. There are a number
of different techniques that customers use and each has a specific name. For
example, instead of saying “stripes,” employee would use the term “tape masking,”
to describe the piece. This is more specific because the employees who will be using
this information can easily recognize the masking technique.
This implementation is worthwhile because a great deal of time is wasted
both writing and interpreting descriptions in order to make sure the correct orders
go back to the correct customers. By requiring a little structure be applied when
writing descriptions, the descriptions will be more specific, not handwritten, and
easily accessible by search.
The time saved by the employees during both the description and packaging
processes can be used to load kilns, glaze pieces, help customers, and maintain the
studio. These are all the things that need to be done in order to keep the business
running smoothly and successfully. These improvements in the information services
would greatly benefit the organization by increasing the efficiency with which the
information flows throughout.
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Topic #5: Evaluation
Because the organization that I looked at deals with individual pieces of
artwork that differ from customer to customer, the glazing and firing process will
always include some steps that must be done manually. Since this is the case, some
of the major information sources require manual implementation. For example,
each piece of pottery must be described so that it is returned to the correct
customer that painted it. While this process does have to be done manually, there
are ways to improve the efficiency and accuracy with which this is done.
Because each customer will paint differently, and there is no way to predict the
way they decide to do so, the employees will always have to create the a description
of the pieces. This process must remain individualized, but it can be improved. By
standardizing the language used in these descriptions, the information is clearer and
easier for other employees to understand. By making sure that this information is
entered into the POS computer system, the organization can utilize the inventory
system that they already have to begin to include the description of pieces with the
purchase record.
The value of this service could be demonstrated by looking at the amount of
time employees spend packaging customer pieces, both before, and after this
information service is implemented. One of the major issues with the description
process right now is the amount of time that employees end up wasting in attempt
to decipher one another’s descriptions. Although the description process will always
have to be done piece by piece, there are ways to make it flow smoother. These
changes could save employees a great deal of time.
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Interviewed
 Bounds, Molly, (CMM Customer Service Rep)
 Hirschenblaum, Kayla (CMM Customer Service Rep)
 Kennedy, Cale (CMM General Manager/ Franchise Operator)
 Krikston, Raelina (CMM Customer Service Rep, Glazer, Loader, Packager)
 Mooslin, Mike (CMM COO and Company President)
 Rosenblum, Ellen (CMM Franchise Owner)
 Rosenblum, Harris (CMM Customer Service Rep)
 Strobel, Molly (CMM Associate Manager)
Databases Consulted
 Hoovers
 Factiva
 ABI/ INFORM Dateline
 D & B’s Million-Dollar Database.
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