It is getting more and tougher to compete in the worldwide marketplace that we all live in. Whether you are producing baseball bats or widgets, there is somebody out there trying to build them less expensively and quicker than you. But the question is if they are producing a better product? For some people, it doesn’t matter, cheaper is better even if the part doesn’t last as long. It is weird and unfortunate, but cheaper has become the motto and the word of choice for many people and organizations. Yes, less expensive is better, but cheaper doesn’t always work out for the best. So the object is to build a good, high quality part and to make it of high value to your potential customers. The builders of the items do not determine what they makes’ worth; the customer does. What is the customer ready to pay for your product and how big of a demand for your part is there? There are different ways to boost your earnings for your product.
You can always increase the price and pass it off to the customer. But there is a better way, a longer term approach that can raise earnings and keep your company running lean and efficiently. It all starts with eliminating unnecessary waste in all areas of your organization. Waste comes in many forms and it costs every business more revenue than they would care to disclose. Waste is when workers are just hanging around, but that does not mean that there aren’t orders to be filled. It might just mean that they are waiting for parts to be finished in the painting department or it might mean that they are waiting for product from a supplier. These are procedure concerns that can directly affect the end product and the quantity that you can make. When workers are hanging around, idle and waiting for the work to come to their work station, they are not productive. They are under used and are in essence simply wasting money and time. It is the same when you have machines sitting unused. What is the point of having a fancy mechanized machine if it is not being run for hours a day? Would it be more efficient to do the job by hand, sell the robot and buy a piece of equipment that will be more fruitful? What about the space that the equipment is filling, could another work station be put there and more labor actually be completed without the robot? You can’t say that you don’t want to get rid of parts because you may want it. If you are not using it or it is old, then it is taking up room and not contributing to the development and profit of theorganization. It can be difficult to admit that getting that robot was a bad idea, but if it doesn’t work and doesn’t help grow the business, then it is time to push forward and find something that does. It is named adapting and pushing forward.