It is becoming much more difficult to compete in the worldwide marketplace that we all exist in. Whether you are making baseball bats or widgets, there is somebody out there trying to build them cheaper and faster than you. But the question is if they are making a superior part? For some people, it doesn’t matter, cheaper is good enough even if the part doesn’t last as long. It is bizarre and unfortunate, but cheaper has become the catchphrase and the word of choice for many buyers and organizations. Yes, less expensive is better, but cheaper doesn’t necessarily work out for the best. So the objective is to make a superior, high quality item and to make it of high worth to your customers. The makers of the items do not decide what they makes’ worth; the buyer does. What is the consumer prepared to pay for your service and how big of a demand for your product is there? There are different ways to boost your profit for your product.
You can always elevate the price and pass it off to the consumer. But there is a better way, a longer term way that can increase revenue and keep your business running lean and efficiently. It all starts with eliminating unnecessary waste in all areas of your business. Waste comes inlots of forms and it costs every company more money than they would care to confess. Waste is when workers are just hanging around, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t orders to be made. It might just mean that they are waiting for parts to be finished in the electrical department or it might mean that they are waiting for product from a vendor. These are process issues that can directly have an effect on the end product and the speed at which you can make. When employees are sitting around, idle and waiting for the job to come to their work station, they are not producing. They are unused and are in essence simply wasting cash and time. It is the same when you have machines sitting idle. What is the point of having a costly automated machine if it is not in use for hours a day? Would it be more efficient to do the job by hand, sell the machine and purchase a piece of machinery that will be more industrious? What about the room that the equipment is taking up, could another work area be put there and more labor actually be finished without the robot? You can’t say that you don’t want to do away with parts because you might want it. If you are not making use of it or it is outdated, then it is taking up space and not contributing to the growth and profit of theorganization. It can be tricky to admit that buying that machine was a bad idea, but if it doesn’t work and doesn’t assit build the company, then it is time to move on and find something that does. It is called adapting and going ahead.