Managing Budgets and Resources - how to get 'More for Less'

Today there is huge pressure to still meet the demands of the market whilst not just controlling costs but trimming where possible. Over the years however we have noticed that when the pressure is on to make cuts there is an implicit assumption that a trim anywhere will do. This is due to the use of local efficiency measures that assume all resources are created equal! Reality is not compliant with this assumption however, because in any flow there is always a weakest link, a constraint, which must be supported and nurtured above non-constraint resources.

What this means is that any decisions made regarding making cuts must take notice of the location of the constraint and take care not to jeopardise it – but where is the constraint? If the answer to that question is “I don’t know” then there is at least one inevitable conclusion – you are probably just about to trim the constraint resource and thus trim your sales, your ability to make money from your company.

However, in at least three key areas, Operations, Project Management and Supply Chain / Replenishment, we have found that, with a little analysis, it is possible to gain advantage from trimming where necessary. At the same time we expect to see an improving service in terms of lead time, due date performance and resource effectiveness. Typically we have been able to achieve improvement in overall productivity performance of around 25%, and this in all three areas.

If you would like to learn more about how to achieve this level of performance improvement then attend one of our workshops – follow the links below for more details. The workshops show how to address core issues in each of the areas being analysed and what steps need to be taken to gain the level of performance required in such difficult times.

We also run a one day workshop exploring how the use of Throughput Accounting can cast unprecedented clarity on vital decisions such as buying, investing, shop floor product release and price setting and enables a better decision-making process within the organisation.

• Managing Operations - 2-day Workshop

• Managing Projects & Programmes - 2-day Workshop

• Managing Supply Chain / Replenishment - 2-day Workshop

• Throughput Accounting for Decision Making - 1-day Workshop