Cost leaders enjoy competitive advantage. That is always true. But if ever there was a time to focus on cost reduction, it is now. A conflagration of negative economic factors, exacerbated by the recent ratings downgrade, is going to place extreme pressure on disposable income, dampening demand. The simultaneous upward pressure on input costs is Read more about Inside VWG’s Manufacturing Cost Reduction Programme[…]
Energy costs are significant in most manufacturing facilities and large commercial undertakings, but tend to take a back seat to other operational priorities such as plant reliability, product quality, safety, throughput and cost management. Most organisations do not have dedicated energy management personnel, and also cannot be sure of the returns achievable through investment in Read more about An Innovative Service Guaranteed to deliver Sustainable Energy Cost Reductions[…]
Becoming a cost leader is a natural source of competitive advantage for manufacturers. Lower costs assist commodity producers to undercut their competition on price, while for branded product manufacturers with leverage over price, lower costs can significantly increase margins. Low-cost producers enjoy better cash flows than their more wasteful competitors. Assuming that a business is Read more about Common Barriers to Low-Cost Manufacturing[…]
Continuous improvement is only possible within a framework comprising the systematic measurement of performance and the establishment and facilitation of structured processes to close the gaps between achieved performance and performance targets. Problem solving offers this to any organisation willing to make the necessary investments in competence acquisition and resolute enough to drive required changes Read more about Problem Solving: Simple Route to World Beating Performance[…]
Managing the energy efficiency performance of any system is not possible without measurement. With the plethora of possible performance measures available, and the fact that measurement requires resources, it is important to be selective. A “shotgun” approach to performance indicators with no clear measurement strategy can be expensive to implement and also ineffective in terms Read more about Two Non-Negotiable Steam System Performance Indicators[…]
I was in the office of a successful textiles entrepreneur while on business in Durban a few years ago. He wanted my advice on a proposal he had received for a power factor correction system. “Show me your bills for the last 12 months”, I asked. He had them readily on hand, and after about 20 Read more about Reduce Your Electricity Costs with Power Factor Correction[…]
Manufacturing businesses incur a wide range of costs. As with any business, there are many fixed costs associated with manufacturing, such as salaries, maintenance, rent and the like. If you really want to sustainably reduce the cost of your manufacturing operations however, the costs you need to be focusing on are variable costs. In this Read more about Keys to Manufacturing Cost Reduction[…]
Steam systems are often the most expensive energy systems to operate on industrial sites and can also easily be responsible for most of a site’s emissions. Fortunately, there are several well-defined approaches available to significantly improve efficiencies and reduce costs in steam systems. The starting point for such an exercise is to conduct a comprehensive Read more about Considerations when Assessing the Efficiency of Your Boiler Plant[…]
The notion of operational excellence in manufacturing has been around for decades. Manufacturing managers face extreme challenges as they try to balance a range of often conflicting objectives. These include producing product reliably, meeting quality standards, operating safely, minimising costs, maintaining a heathy, motivated and skilled workforce, social objectives and now environmental objectives. In trying Read more about Can Manufacturers Maximise Energy Efficiency Through Operational Excellence Alone?[…]
Low-cost manufacturers are not the ones with the lowest staff complements, but those who manage their variable costs effectively. The efficient use of raw materials, energy and water and the minimisation of waste are the hallmarks of cost leaders in the manufacturing sector. The issues are very complex and unless you attack this challenge in Read more about Key Steps to Sustainable Resource Efficiency Performance[…]