By Thomas D. McBride
Partners for
Creative Solutions, Inc.
Nearly everyone knows that the world is changing at a dramatic pace. The explosive growth of technology and the Internet allows instantaneous communication with most areas of the globe. Over the past two decades we have witnessed the rapid emergence of third world countries, the removal of trade barriers, and the opening of borders. While creating both new opportunities and increased competition for many U.S. companies, the accelerated rate of change in how business is done reinforces our need to continuously and aggressively reinvent our businesses and ourselves.
Several powerful methodologies are available to help build world-class organizations. Lean Manufacturing, Just-In-Time, Total Quality Management, and many others, can be applied across entire organizations to achieve extraordinary results. For example, Womack and Jones in their book Lean Thinking, claim that applying their concepts can invigorate any company and routinely double productivity and sales while stabilizing employment. Such methodologies can lead to tremendous gains in almost any industry, including manufacturing, services, distribution, or retailing.
Economists credit productivity gains in manufacturing with helping hold inflation in check over the last decade. However, according to the August 28, 2000 edition of Business Week only three high-tech industries (less than 10% of manufacturing) account for all of the increase in factory productivity growth. Most manufacturers have made little progress, and there is evidence that distribution, services, and retailing also have a long way to go. Waste is prevalent when the wait for a good or service is substantially longer than the time it actually takes to produce it. Eight-to-twelve weeks to receive standard furniture, a two-week wait for custom tailoring, and retail checkout lines that still test our patience are prime examples.
The reality is that time is running short for many companies. Customers are demanding more - faster deliveries, lower prices, better service, and better choices. Why wait for a competitor to make the first move? Catching up is difficult, so why not start today to reduce delivery times, inventory investment, costs, and dependence on work force growth, while at the same time increasing both customer and employee satisfaction.
Future issues will address the most common types of waste, some successful methods used to eliminate it, and how to design and implement a transformation program for your company.
Winter 2001 - Volume 11, Number 1