Reduce Unique ICDs by Redesigning the Product or the Process

The objective of this activity is to reduce the number of ICDs by reducing the occurrence of an ICD in producing a unit of Output, or by reducing the number of separate ICDs used in the Output. A unique ICD is one of the key activities in the work center's contribution to the final product (O). It is separate and distinct from any other activity in the work center. For example, the fastening of a part onto a subassembly and a quality control check of the subassembly would be unique ICDs.

B. Redesign the process of producing the ICD or Output

Change the process used to produce the ICD or Output to eliminate activities.

6. Reduce use of Purchases and Capital ICDs

Reduce Purchased ICDs (items purchased for end product Output):
Measure needs more accurately

No.	Industry SIC	Year	Notes
1	4011	1993	On CSX route, four locomotives used to power trains at 28 mph. But the trains arrived a midnight, long before they were unloaded. CSX began running trains at 25 mph with only 3 locomotives and arriving 3 hours later, still in plenty of time. Three trains use less fuel, too.
2	4513	2006	In industries from airlines to glass-making, companies are curbing usage, revamping machinery, and shifting production schedules to offset energy costs. United Parcel Service Inc. managed to report higher first-quarter profit fueled by accelerating volume in most of its markets. One of UPS's innovations is a network of "electronic logbooks," which track preventive maintenance for each delivery truck. The company found a blanket maintenance schedule was wasteful, since maintenance needs vary depending on the size and even the type of tires on a truck. The logbooks are already saving the company an estimated 330,000 quarts of oil a year.
3	5411	2005	The British supermarket chain Tesco is finding immense success after applying Toyota Motor Corp.'s "lean consumption" model. The use of a range of formats, plus detailed knowledge about specific consumers, will progressively permit Tesco and other providers adopting these methods to offer each household convenient variety at a lower cost. One way is by tailoring the stock-keeping units offered in each smaller store to what nearby customers actually want.
4	5511	2006	CarMax is the nation's biggest used-car supermarket. As CarMax was struggling when it first started, along came AutoNation, the giant new-car dealership group, with a plan to compete with CarMax head-to-head in used cars. In December 1999, after losing $1billion, AutoNation gave up on the used-car-superstore idea. With AutoNation out of the picture, CarMax halted its growth so it could get healthy. It did that with a database. By tracking, with help from a handful of outside sources, everything they can about every car CarMax ever appraised, bought or sold. CarMax's 600 inventory buyers can now tap into enough information to guide them to that perfect price – the one that will persuade the customer to sell CarMax the car but will allow CarMax to make a profit.
5	5731	2004	J&R, apart from the agreement with Amazon.com, also links up with other sites through its affiliate marketing program. The difference is that instead of paying for clicks, J&R pays only when a customer completes an order. "The advantages are that you get free brand exposure and you only pay on a performance basis."

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