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Save Yourself Rich

8 March, 2010 by James Lawther Leave a Comment

All operations are too expensive, no matter how good they are there is always an obligation to reduce cost further, and when the cost has been taken out there will always be pressure to remove more.

There are 5 key problems that are common to operations of all types:

1.  There are numerous opinions about what the operation is there to do.  The operational purpose and specification are not crisp.
2.  There is proliferation of products and services.  There is far more complexity than necessary.
3.  Operational activity is slow, resource hungry and error prone.  There are frequent process breakdowns.
4.  Customer demands don’t match what the operation can supply.  Forecasts are volatile and capacity is inflexible.
5.  It is unclear how the operation is working, multiple issues and a lack of understanding hide real performance.  There is a need for operational transparency.

Understanding the causes of these problems and finding solutions is the key to reducing cost.

Photo by John Barkiple on Unsplash

Filed Under: Blog, Process Improvement Tagged With: capacity planning, clarity, complexity, cost saving, purpose, rework, supply and demand

About the Author

James Lawther
James Lawther

James Lawther is a middle-aged, middle manager.

To reach this highly elevated position he has worked in numerous industries, from supermarket retailing to tax collecting.  He has had several operational roles, including running the night shift in a frozen pea packing factory and carrying out operational research for a credit card company.

As you can see from his C.V. he has either a wealth of experience or is incapable of holding down a job.  If the latter is true this post isn’t worth a minute of your attention.

Unfortunately, the only way to find out is to read it and decide for yourself.

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