It is becoming much tougher to compete in the worldwide marketplace that we all dwell in. Whether you are building motorcycles or widgets, there is someone out there trying to produce them less expensively 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 item doesn’t last as long. It is weird and unfortunate, but cheaper has become the slogan and the word of choice for many people and organizations. Yes, cheaper is better, but less expensive doesn’t always work out for the best. So the goal is to produce a good, high value item and to make it of high worth to your customers. The builders of the product do not establish what they makes’ value; the buyer does. What is the customer prepared to pay for your part and how big of a demand for your part is there? There are different ways to raise your revenue for your product.
You can always increase the price and pass it off to the consumer. But there is a better way, a longer term way that can boost profits and keep your organization operating lean and efficient. It all starts with removing unnecessary waste in all areas of your business. Waste comes in many forms and it costs every business more cash than they would care to admit. 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 assembly department or it could mean that they are waiting for product from a supplier. These are procedure problems that can directly affect the end product and how many you can make. When workers are loafing around, idle and waiting for the job to come to their station, they are not useful. They are idle and are in essence simply wasting money and time. It is the same when you have machines standing quiet. What is the point of having a fancy 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 buy a piece of machinery that will be more productive? What about the space that the machine is taking up, could another work station be put there and more labor actually be finished without the equipment? You can’t say that you don’t want to do away with equipment because you may want it. If you are not utilizing it or it is obsolete, then it is taking up room and not contributing to the growth and profit of thebusiness. It can be uncomfortable to admit that getting that robot was a bad idea, but if it does not and doesn’t assit build the company, then it is time to push on and discover something that does. It is called adapting and moving ahead.