Improve process
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Businesses best positioned to survive and thrive in the highs and lows of economic cycles are those that continued to innovate, regardless of the economic cycle. During tough economic times innovation can help your business realise real gains in the areas of process/efficiency enhancements. If you can identify and minimise the wasteful activities within the order-to-delivery cycle, you stand to be more productive and ultimately, more profitable.
Process improvement makes economic sense
During economic downturns, many businesses automatically look to downsizing or budget cuts to keep the business running. Objectively understanding the supply chain process, focusing on what makes customers successful, eliminating waste and activities that don’t add value, and implementing other cost reduction strategies can all help. Effectively managing the cash-to-cash cycle; the order-to-deliver cycle and the supply chain can simultaneously reduce costs and improve business efficiency.
In boom times innovative processes allow businesses to cope with the influx of demand quicker and more cost-effectively than competitors.
Lean requires innovative thinking.
The Toyota Motor Company is one of the best known companies in the world that excels at continuous improvement. Toyota’s highly effective production system, dubbed “lean manufacturing” didn’t result from a sudden brainstorm but evolved over decades of sustained continuous improvement activity. Lean manufacturing is not limited to Toyota or the car industry. The principles of lean manufacturing have been adopted by thousands of businesses across the world as leading practice. Lean principles and the efficiencies they generate are not limited to production but extend to all other areas of business operations including product and service development, prototyping, testing and service delivery. The secret: build your solution from the customer back and drive out anything connected to complexity.
Links to subsections of this topic
How well are you doing? Benchmarking can help
Tools to Assist You
How are Queensland businesses improving their processes?
Programs and Services
