It is becoming much more difficult to compete in the global marketplace that we all exist in. Whether you are building baseball bats or widgets, there is someone out there trying to produce them less expensively and quicker than you. But the question is if they are building a superior part? For some consumers, it doesn’t matter, cheaper is good enough even if the product doesn’t last as long. It is bizarre and regrettable, but cheaper has become the catchphrase and the word of choice for many buyers and businesses. Yes, less expensive is better, but cheaper doesn’t always work out for the best. So the objective is to make a first-rate, high value item and to make it of high value to your clients. The producers of the parts do not decide what they makes’ value; the consumer does. What is the buyer ready to pay for your item and how much of a demand for your item is there? There are different ways to raise your earnings for your product.
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 raise revenue and keep your organization running lean and efficient. It all starts with removing unnecessary waste in all parts of your organization. Waste comes in many forms and it costs every company more revenue than they would care to admit. Waste is when employees are just hanging around, but that does not mean that there aren’t orders to be filled. It mightmerely mean that they are waiting for parts to be finished in the electrical department or it could mean that they are waiting for product from a vendor. These are procedure problems that can directly influence the end product and the quantity that you can make. When workers are hanging around, unused and waiting for the work to come to their work station, they are not producing. They are under used and are in effect just wasting cash and time. It is the same when you have machines standing idle. What is the point of having a fancy mechanized machine if it is not being used for hours a day? Would it be more efficient to do the job by hand, sell the machine and purchase a piece of equipment that will be more productive? What about the room that the machine is taking up, could another work station be put there and more labor actually be done without the equipment? You can’t say that you don’t want to do away with parts because you may want it. If you are not using it or it is outdated, then it is taking up room and not contributing to the expansion and profit of theorganization. It can be tricky to admit that purchasing that machine was a bad idea, but if it does not and doesn’t assit build the company, then it is time to push forward and realize something that does. It is called adapting and pushing forward.