Data is great. The ability to collect and store oceans of data has been the greatest achievement of my lifetime. We now have more data on our PDA than we had in banks of filing cabinets 30 years ago. But, smart companies realize that it is not beneficial to only collect the data, but it is important to get the right data and most important to take that data and transform it into the correct information that will allow processes to be improved, hold employees accountable, and give management tools to make timely decisions and improve profits.
Using a baseball analogy (as I like to do) take a look at these two sets of data:
- A:0,3,3,1,0,1,2,1,1,3,3,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,1,0,0,1,4,0,1,0,3,0,0,2,4,1,2,0
- B:1,0,2,0,0,0,1,0,4,0,2,1,0,0,0,4,0,0,0,2,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0,5,0,2,0,0,0,1,2,0
The data above represents runs given up by game for two particular pitchers during a season.
So, now that we know that, let’s analyze the data and present some information:
- Pitcher A gave up 38 runs in 34 games
- Pitcher B gave up 30 runs in 43 games
Analyzing that information, we determine that:
- Picher A gave up 1.12 runs/game
- Pitcher B gave up 0.70 runs/game
Therefore we would assume based on this information that Pitcher B is better pitcher.
In further analyzing the data we find
- Pitcher A gave up 0 runs in 15 of 34 games (44%)
- Pitcher B gave up 0 runs in 29 of 43 games (68%)
So once again B is better
Ok, let’s add some data:
- A: 1,1,0,1,1,1,0,0,0,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,0,1,1,0,1,0,0,1
- B: 0,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,0,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,0,1,0,0,0,0,1,0,0
1 represents a win by the team and 0 represents a lose by the team for each game the pitcher was in.
- Pitchers A team won 24/34 games (71%)
- Pitcher B team won 31/43 games (72%)
Once again pitcher B compare favorably.
So having the above data will tell you that B is the better pitcher.
The following data is critical to getting the correct information for the pitchers’ analysis:
- A: 7,7,9,9,12,11,8,9.2,8,8,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,9,11,9,9,9,9,9,10,8,9,8,8,9
- B: 1,1,1,1,2,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,.2,1.1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1.1,1.1,1,1,1.2,1.1,.1,.1,1.2,1, .2,1,2
The above data represents the number of innings each pitcher threw in each appearance. Therefore:
- Pitcher A threw 304.2 innings
- Pitcher B threw 45.2 innings
More importantly
- Pitcher A had an ERA of 1.12 (runs given up/9 innings pitched)
- Pitcher B had an ERA of 5.91
Pitcher A was Bob Gibson in 1968. His ERA that year was the 4th lowest of all time (every other season in the top 41 happened before 1920!).
Pitcher B was Keith Foulke, closer for the Boston Red Sox, in 2005.
As you can see in the above example, having data, but not the right information, can be very deceiving. It may even make you think that Keith Foulke was a better pitcher than Bob Gibson 
Ok, everyone is supposed to have a blog so I have asked my superstar I.T. guy, Ed, to set one up for me. First of all I will establish some rules:
- I will not talk politics for fear that I will alienate 50% or more of the potential readers. I love to talk, discuss, and debate politics. I love discussing and debating with people who have different views than I do on political issues. Unfortunately, it seems like too many times on 24 hour news channels, it is just a game of which side of an issue can scream louder and who can catch who with a good sound bite
- I will not discuss religion. Once again there all different views on religion and I do not want to force mine on anyone. I think the main rules I try to live my life by are to be honest with everyone I encounter and to treat others the same way I would like to be treated.
Now a little about myself:
- I grew up in a town called New Windsor, MD. It was a rural community and my Dad’s family was mostly farmers. I spent a few summers working on my uncle’s farm.
- I loved automobiles and had the opportunity to read “Iacocca: An Autobiography” in 1984. I loved the book and it inspired me to want to work in the Automotive Industry. After studying colleges, I decided to attend GMI (formerly General Motors Institute, now Kettering University, www.kettering.edu). I co-oped with General Motors at the Assembly Plant in Baltimore, MD (now since razed).
- At GM I fell in love with electrical controls. There was nothing cooler than troubleshooting and improving automated production systems.
- At GMI I fell in love with Patti Fridline, who has been my wife for the past 16 years and happens to have a great engineering company named after her.
- I made a mistake (at the time) by leaving GM for a much smaller company that sold HMI’s. There is a long story involved, but suffice it to say that I was looking for a job and floated my resume in June 1991 to Don Kijek at Fanuc Robotics. Don had no openings but knew that I had specific knowledge that he could use. At his request, I started Patti Engineering to keep myself busy until I could find a permanent job.
- After working as a solo shooter for 2.5 years, in 1994 started hiring employees and moved into a leased light industrial space in Rochester Hills, MI.
- In 1995 I hired Dave Foster, who also attended GMI. Dave is a lot smarter than me and he is the VP of engineering for Patti Engineering.
- Also in 1995 I had the best day in my life when my daughter Payton was born.
- In 1997 I hired Ken Kutchek. Ken is a lot more organized than I am and is the VP of operations for Patti.
- In 2000, we moved into our location to 2110 East Walton Blvd, Auburn Hills, MI.
- In 2002 we did the controls on an automated sortation system for Forever21 (www.forever21.com) in Los Angeles, CA. This was our 1st project of any significance outside the automotive industry.
- In 2002 I had my other best day in my life when my son Sammy was born.
- In 2005 we did the controls and warehouse information systems for the embroidery and distribution for Ashworth, Inc. (www.ashworthinc.com) in
Oceanside, CA. This has been our largest project to date (over 3m).
- In 2006 we developed the controls and software for the a weapon and asset management system used in law enforcement. Dave and myself have an ownership stake in the startup company, www.leidproducts.com.
- In 2007 we started to provide the controls and software for the updated version of the American Locker (www.americanlocker.com) ECBU and Compu-Lok products which are electronically controlled locker units that are now easily administered via a web interface.
I love sports, especially baseball. I grew up a big Orioles fan, but after 16 years in Michigan I am now a Tigers fan. I have had season tickets to the Tigers since 1998. I saw a LOT of bad baseball up until 2006. But I still loved going to the games. Now going to a Tiger’s game is awesome.
That’s it in a nutshell about me. If you have any questions or comments feel free to e-mail me at shoff@pattieng.com.