If we look hard, all of our companies have several key processes and perhaps dozens of ancillary ones–all either directly making your company money or supporting the infrastructure that allows your company to make money. The goals of examining the individual processes should be:

1. Save time,
2. Save money, and/or
3. Improve some outcome  (such as information, throughput, accuracy, etc.)

I recommend starting by taking your current process and very carefully document each individual component into a flowchart. The most effective way to do this would be as a team with those that are involved in the process being examined. I like using Microsoft Visio (you can download the current version from the Microsoft website for a free 60-day trial). Make sure you use the different flow chart shapes for the different components (like processes, decisions, documents, data) and map out all possible variables.

If done thoroughly, just the act of examining the steps as closely as needed to create the flowchart will begin to give you and your team ideas of how you might improve. In addition, consider these areas:

1. Technology – is there a way you can apply technology to improve it in some way (i.e. new software, PDF instead of paper or fax, email notifications, etc.)?
2. Duplication of effort – is there a place where the same steps are duplicated by more than one person?
3. Consolidation – are there related tasks that can be rolled up into one step or done by one person instead of several?
4. Sequence – can a decision or step be made earlier in the process that will make things simplier later on (or visa versa)?
5. Trimmed – are there steps that were needed in the past but have become superfluous?

After you and your team figure out your new and improved process, make sure you diagram it in a flowchart.  Ideally you will have some metrics that can be examined to quantify the improvements that you have made.

I have successfully employed this process on a number of occasions with one of the end results being that we can now handle four times the sales volume with the same number of back office managers and staff–with a lot less errors.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or ideas that might help us or a reader, please do not hesitate to comment.

If your lease is ending soon, you are in luck. Rates are lower than they have been in many years. Your new lease should have lower rates, more concessions or both. 

Even if you lease is not up, you can save substantially. Say there is 2 years left on your 5 year lease (office or warehouse). Go to the landlord and tell them that you are willing to commit to another 5 years starting today in return for a new lease at a lower rate. You see, most landlords owe on their buildings and the leases they have are used as collateral for the bank. Each lease and its duration has value and locking you in for an additional three years adds value in the eyes of the bank–a worthy goal for the landlord in today’s tight credit market.  

So, look at your lease(s). If you are moving to a new space or your current lease is up, great! You will benefit from historically low rates. But, even if you are in the middle of a lease, there is money that can be saved if you take the time to analyze the situation and talk to your landlord.

If you have a question, suggestion, or a related idea that could help us or others, please comment.

The first step is to find the right person in your company to negotiate the best prices. Not everyone can drive a hard bargain. Fortunately, I have on staff a perfect negotiator that is not shy about asking for better prices and is not afraid to say “we need you to do better than that”.

The next step is to have your “purchasing manager” contact your current vendor. Explain to them that you are going to compare prices for the xyz services they provide and you wanted to make sure you had their best price before making calls to other vendors. Many times, you will get a better price right then because, understandably, they would like to keep your business even if they make a few dollars less.

Even if you do get a better price from your current vendor, follow through and make at least two other calls to vendors providing the same level of service (changing to a different level of service would be a whole other strategy). Compare the quote–making sure you are comparing apples-to-apples. You can (and should if you are otherwise happy with their service) go back to your current vendor and give them a chance to match or beat the lowest price you found.

Now, I have not always gone with the lowest quote. I had a trucking company that does $250,000 a year with us. They always go the extra mile and have done a tremendous job for us. When we found a company to do it 22% cheaper, I went to them and told them the truth. I sat down with the owner and after we discussed everything, he came back with a 18% reduction. While I could have insisted that he meet the 22% reduction (and I am 100% sure he would have), I knew of all the extras they have done for us over the years (and wanted to continue) and agreed to his proposal. The end result is that I saved approximately $50,000 over the next 12 months.

Another time I had our designated “purchasing manager” find a better price for labels. We use $15,000 per year in labels and I had a feeling there was a better price out there. She found labels through a distributor that agreed if we purchased by the pallet (six months supply) they would give us 33% discount from what we had been paying for years. Annual savings, approximately $5000.

Although I can go on and on, the last example I will share is with cardboard shipping cartons. We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars per year on cardboard cartons and slip sheets. Our “purchasing manager” has found three different manufacturers that all quote on every project we do–even if the same carton was purchased two months ago. You see, cardboard is a commodity whose price is constantly changing. In addition, manufacturers have different kinds and sizes of machines that make the production of one item more efficient than another. So, we discovered that to get the best price, we have to shop the work almost every time we order. $0.02-0.04 per carton does not sound like a lot until you purchase 600,000 of them.

Other areas to consider:

• All types of insurance
• Trash and waste removal
• Office supplies
• Fleet gas accounts
• Shipping
• Temp labor
• IT contracts
• Office cleaning

Yes, saving the big number is fun and very rewarding; but those types of savings are few and far between–especially after the initial savings. However, saving the $10-250 per month in a few categories can quickly become thousands per year–which could make all the difference in the world during a down trend in your business.

If you have a question, suggestion, or a related idea that could help us or others, please comment.

How many times have you yourself printed something that was on your screen so you could consult it while working in another program or writing an email? We use Microsft Dynamics GP and before my second monitor, I found myself printing out this report or that report whenever I knew I had to refer to it while building a spreasheet or writing an email.

With a second monitor, I find I can keep information up in one monitor and easily refer to it in another. I can compare two reports or easily cross-check information. Drag and drop also works between open programs–easily moving information you are reading to a spreasheet or email you are building.

Studies show that you can acheive anywhere from a 9 to 50% increase in productivity. Read at least these two articles:

http://jonpeddie.com/publications/multiple-display-market/

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/kimkomando/2008-09-25-two-monitors_N.htm

While implemeting this in our offices, I also discovered an inexpensive solution. I purchased refurbished monitors in pairs from Dell. I purchased 17′ flat screen monitors for $99 each. In a couple of the systems I had to purchase a video card for $30.

Productivity has definitely gone up. While I do not have the exact % measurement, I would guess it to be in the 20% range for those that use their computers all day long.

Conclusion: For a person making $16/hour and acheiving a productivity gain of 20%, this would equate to $128 per week or over $6500 per year. That’s quite a ROI for $100-230.

If you have a question, suggestion, or a related idea that could help us or others, please comment.

I wanted to try my hand at writing a blog about some of the things we did and are doing that have made the difference. Hopefully, some of them can be of some use to you as well. These are my stories…