It is becoming much harder to compete in the global marketplace that we all dwell in. Whether you are making baseball bats or widgets, there is somebody out there trying to produce them cheaper and quicker than you. But the question is if they are producing a superior part? For some people, it doesn’t matter, cheaper is better even if the product 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 companies. Yes, cheaper is better, but less expensive doesn’t necessarily work out for the best. So the goal is to build a superior, high quality part and to make it of high value to your customers. The builders of the product do not establish what they makes’ worth; the customer does. What is the buyer willing to pay for your service and how big of a demand for your item is there? There are different ways to raise your revenue for your goods.
You can always raise the price and pass it off to the consumer. But there is a better way, a longer term way that can increase earnings and keep your organization running lean and efficient. It all starts with eliminating unnecessary waste in all parts of your organization. Waste comes in many forms and it costs every organization more cash than they would care to disclose. Waste is when employees are just standing around, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t orders to be built. It mightsimply mean that they are waiting for parts to be finished in the electrical department or it might mean that they are waiting for parts from a vendor. These are process problems that can directly have an effect on the end product and how many you can make. When employees are hanging around, unused and waiting for the job to come to their area, they are not productive. They are idle and are in essence simply wasting money and time. It is the same when you have machines being quiet. What is the point of having a costly 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 purchase a piece of machinery that will be more fruitful? What about the area that the machine is taking up, could another work area be put there and more jobs actually be finished without the robot? You can’t say that you don’t want to get rid of tools because you might want it. If you are not using it or it is obsolete, then it is taking up valuable space and not contributing to the development and profit of thefirm. It can be hard to admit that buying that machine was a bad idea, but if it does not and doesn’t assit build the business, then it is time to move on and find something that does. It is called adapting and going forward.