It is getting more and harder 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 make them cheaper and faster than you. But the question is if they are making a better item? For some people, it doesn’t matter, cheaper is better even if the product doesn’t last as long. It is weird and regrettable, but cheaper has become the motto and the word of choice for many consumers and organizations. Yes, less expensive is better, but cheaper doesn’t necessarily work out for the best. So the goal is to produce a superior, high value item and to make it of high worth to your customers. The makers of the product do not decide what they makes’ value; the customer does. What is the buyer ready to pay for your item and how big of a demand for your part is there? There are different ways to raise your profit for your product.
You can always elevate the price and pass it off to the customer. But there is a better way, a more long term approach that can increase earnings and keep your organization running lean and efficient. It all starts with eliminating 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 workers 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 completed in the painting 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 quantity that you can make. When employees are hanging around, inactive and waiting for the job to come to their area, they are not useful. They are under used and are in effect merely wasting cash and time. It is the same when you have machines standing idle. What is the point of having a costly mechanized machine if it is not being used for hours a day? Would it be more cost effective to do the process by hand, sell the robot and purchase a piece of machinery that will be more industrious? What about the area that the machine is filling, could another work area be put there and more work actually be finished without the robot? You can’t say that you don’t want to do away with tools because you may want it. If you are not making use of it or it is old, then it is taking up space and not contributing to the growth and profit of the company. It can be difficult to admit that buying that robot was a bad idea, but if it doesn’t work and doesn’t assit grow the company, then it is time to move forward and find something that does. It is called adapting and going ahead.