It is becoming more and tougher to compete in the global marketplace that we all dwell in. Whether you are building baseball bats or widgets, there is someone out there trying to build them less expensively and faster than you. But the question is if they are making a superior product? For some buyers, it doesn’t matter, cheaper is better 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 people and companies. Yes, cheaper is better, but less expensive doesn’t necessarily work out for the best. So the object is to make a superior, high value part and to make it of high worth to your potential customers. The makers of the product do not establish what they makes’ value; the consumer does. What is the buyer ready to pay for your part and how much of a demand for your product is there? There are different ways to raise your profit for your goods.
You can always raise the price and pass it off to the customer. But there is a better way, a more long term method that can boost revenue and keep your company running lean and efficiently. It all begins with removing unnecessary waste in all aspects of your organization. Waste comes inlots of forms and it costs every company more revenue than they would care to disclose. Waste is when employees are just hanging around, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t orders to be filled. It might just mean that they are waiting for parts to be completed in the painting department or it might mean that they are waiting for product from a supplier. These are process problems that can directly influence the end product and how many you can make. When employees are loafing around, unused and waiting for the job to come to their area, they are not productive. They are unused and are in essence just wasting cash and time. It is the same when you have machines sitting unused. What is the point of having a expensive automatic machine if it is not being used for hours a day? Would it be more cost effective to do the job by hand, sell the machine and purchase a piece of machinery that will be more productive? What about the space that the equipment is filling, could another work spot be put there and more labor actually be completed without the robot? You can’t say that you don’t want to do away with something because you may need it. If you are not making use of it or it is outdated, then it is taking up room and not contributing to the development and profit of theorganization. It can be uncomfortable to admit that purchasing that machine was a bad idea, but if it does not and doesn’t assit build the business, then it is time to push on and discover something that does. It is named adapting and pushing ahead.