Looking for a quick way to increase profits in today’s competitive environment? Consider decreasing expenses in your company. Processes either add ‘value’ or ‘waste’ to the production of an item or service. Excess expenses can account for up to 30% of the operating costs of an organization. Unfortunately it has become accepted by us all as what normally happens and most businesses usually put most of their energy into increasing sales, however pushing more business through an inefficient system makes no sense.
At HLB Gross Collins we work with clients on a five step process for identifying and eliminating waste from their organization, thereby increasing operating profit. The five steps are as follows:
- Conduct a waste audit. The audit indicates the wide range of waste issues within the organization.
- Prioritize. With so many issues requiring attention, the project can be overwhelming. Setting priorities enable the most important issues to be dealt with first.
- Identify teams to work on the issues that have been prioritized.
- Establish KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) before we start. Putting a peg in the ground at the start and measuring on regular intervals is essential. The cost benefit of the process can then be clearly established.
- Go back to the first step. We need to formally audit the waste at least every six months as the waste issues change.