I was struck recently by a Wall Street Journal article about Starbucks. It highlighted Scott Heydon, “vice president of lean thinking,” and a student of Toyota’s efficiency manufacturing processes. Mr. Heydon’s job is to find money by re-engineering various business models. One of his recent onsite studies reduced drive-through transactions by two seconds. Another streamlined customer service by an hour-and-a-half per week. Mr Heydon’s strategies include the use of a stopwatch and a Mr. Potato Head in challenges with managers. In total, Starbucks reduced 3rd quarter costs by $175 million, beating expectations by $25 million. While the dramatic cost reduction wasn’t solely the work of Mr. Heydon, his contribution was significant. Our Director of Sales, John Nicholas, likes to ask me what a manufacturer would have to sell in order to have that kind of impact to the bottom line.
It’s a great question, and one that we at
Answers Systems focus on every day. Saving money for our customers has always been a priority regardless of the state of the economy. Re-engineering
trade promotion management processes are a primary function of what we do. We are constantly looking at what can we do better, faster, and more efficiently, and we apply the same analysis to our customer’s processes. I drive my family crazy with thoughts on how to make meals faster, bedtimes more efficient, and school send-offs smooth and easy. With a little family re-engineering, kids of all ages could get an extra five minutes of shut-eye.
Family re-engineering may sound extreme, but it’s a worthwhile exercise and one that can help you at your job and within your company. One suggestion – don’t tackle a huge, cross-department process. Instead, try starting out small with something you’ve been doing the same way, and ask yourself a few questions including: can we do this with less resources? Can we eliminate a step in the process? Can we handle it differently, or if this process went away tomorrow, would it really be missed? In other words, would it have an adverse effect on revenue? You might be surprised at your answer to these questions.
Yes, I know if it ain’t broke don’t fix it…but let’s re-engineer that old cliche. If we ain’t fixing it, we’re gonna go broke! And who knows, maybe that one small change will allow you that extra five minutes of sleep in the morning!
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