Trim the Fat in Your Business Operations

Did your manufacturing company take on a little extra fat over the past 12 months?

If so, make one of your New Year’s resolutions meeting the goal of removing that excess (notably money not being spent well) and make this the year you charge forward with a leaner business model. As many manufacturing owners have discovered in recent times, having a robust company can be a challenge, especially in difficult economic times.

Among the ways to get your manufacturing business back on track is doing a thorough review of where money is being spent (notably on employee endeavors), if it is truly crucial to the success of the company for the money to go in that directions or directions, and how you can ultimately have a better bottom line in 2016 and beyond.

So, how can you go about this task of improving business performance and should your business or someone outside the company tackle this project?

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Outside Help Can Provide Unbiased Report

For starters, doing an in-house assessment of your manufacturing business model offers both pros and cons.

On the positive side, doing your assessment in-house gives you a great perspective since you know (you should) your employees inside and out. While outsiders can become familiar with your employees, their responsibilities, and just how effective or ineffective they are, no one knows your talent (or lack thereof) better than you.

Secondly, getting employee feedback during the assessment period can be great for several reasons, most notably the fact that they are on the front lines for your brand. What is and isn’t working with clients is something your employees should be well aware of. In the end, the employee engagement and feedback process can be very rewarding.

Lastly, involving your workers in assessing how the business is doing should increase their work output and overall morale.

When you have employees involved in the day-to-day goings-on of your company, they too realize how important the roles are that they play for your company. When someone is engaged and can see how his or her efforts impact the brand, they are more apt to be participants and not bystanders.

On the negative side of an in-house production assessment, you could have one or more employees (possibly management types too) who are afraid to give true feedback on the company, especially if their department is lagging behind.

Another consideration on the down side is that employees become sidetracked with their daily goals of keeping customers happy, thereby not completing the goals assigned to them.

Outside Views Can be the Most Beneficial

With those thoughts in mind, going outside for a report on how your business is doing financially and from a production and employee morale standpoint can be beneficial for the following reasons:

  • Turning to outside help via lean consultants for example, gives you an unbiased look at your company. See what is working, what is not working, and what improvements can be made in order to improve your customer service and employee production;
  • Turning to lean consultants outside your business allows you to get the best value for your clients (always do your best to make customers more than just satisfied) via lowered costs and production time. At the end of the day, removing waste from your business model should always be a priority. If you don’t, your finances and business reputation can both take major hits;
  • Turning to outside help to assess where your business is thriving and where it can improve itself can also be seen by clients as your brand thinking outside the box. Face it; many companies can be scared away from going outside for help for fear they might hear what they do not want to. If you truly care about the long-term success of your business, your employees and ultimately your customers, don’t be afraid to get a little negative feedback. The business owner who is willing to listen to some things they may not want to hear is in the long run the business owner who will have the best odds of succeeding, not the one who feels he or she is doing all the right things, though that is ultimately not the case because they were too stubborn to hear other points of view.

With the calendar flipped to 2016, make this the year you trim some fat (be it expenses etc.) from your business in order to best serve your brand, those who come to work for you on a daily basis, and ultimately the clients who keep your company trekking along.