It is becoming much more difficult to compete in the global marketplace that we all dwell in. Whether you are building hair dryers 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 superior part? For some people, it doesn’t matter, cheaper is better 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 consumers and organizations. Yes, less expensive is better, but less expensive doesn’t always work out for the best. So the object is to produce a first-rate, high quality item and to make it of high worth to your customers. The builders of the product do not establish what they makes’ worth; the customer does. What is the consumer ready to pay for your item and how much of a demand for your part is there? There are different ways to increase your profit for your product.
You can always elevate the price and pass it off to the consumer. But there is a better way, a longer term way that can increase profits and keep your organization working lean and efficient. It all starts with eliminating unnecessary waste in all parts of your organization. Waste comes inlots of forms and it costs every company more cash than they would care to confess. Waste is when employees are just standing around, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t orders to be filled. It mightmerely mean that they are waiting for parts to be finished in the assembly department or it might mean that they are waiting for parts from a supplier. These are process issues that can directly have an effect on the end product and how many you can produce. When workers are sitting around, idle and waiting for the work to come to their station, they are not useful. They are under used and are in essence just wasting money and time. It is the same when you have machines sitting unused. What is the point of having a fancy automatic machine if it is not being run for hours a day? Would it be more efficient 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 station be put there and more labor actually be finished without the equipment? You can’t say that you don’t want to get rid of parts because you may need it. If you are not utilizing it or it is obsolete, then it is taking up space and not contributing to the expansion and profit of theorganization. It can be tricky to admit that getting that equipment was a bad idea, but if it doesn’t work and doesn’t assit build the business, then it is time to push on and realize something that does. It is named adapting and pushing ahead.