Reduce the Units of Input Not Producing Output

Reduce units of Input (I) available but not producing Intermediate Cost Drivers
(ICDs). This action makes Input levels more directly variable with the quantity of the ICD by reducing the amount of the available Input that is wasted or idle. For example, an employee (I) might produce one subassembly (ICD) per day. During that day, the employee spends a total of one hour waiting for parts for the subassembly. If the Company could eliminate that one lost hour of the employee's work day by providing parts in a more timely manner, the Company could reduce the number of employees (I) needed to produce the same subassembly (ICD) by 1/8th.

A. Assist Input in increasing ICDs.

Place decision making responsibility at a lower level. The employees with responsibility make faster decisions.

No.	Industry SIC	Year	Notes
1	3452	1997	At Fastenal, management-level decision-making is constantly pushed down to entry-level positions.
2	3452	1988	National Acme is experimenting with a "company-in-a-company" concept that pushes profit-and-loss responsibility down to the lowest level possible. Customers talk to the factory floor directly; fewer people are needed.
3	3519	1994	Cummins offers as much as 100 hours of training to workers annually, and its factories operate on a team system that puts power in the hands of those who work the assembly line.
4	3571	1988	IBM's decentralization effort is designed so that decisions can be made lower in the company, for added speed and efficiency.
5	3575	1988	Sun's key is getting individuals to take on enormous responsibility with little direction from managers.
6	3585	1992	Carrier plant workers have unusual autonomy; they can shut down production if they spot a problem and, within limits, they can order their own supplies. They don't have to punch a time clock or prove illness.
7	3600	1986	GE adopted a "worker-paced" assembly line. Most lines move continuously as workers do their jobs, but on GE's new line, each unit stops when it reaches a workstation. It moves on only if the worker is satisfied that the job was done correctly. Along with automation, this has slashed total manufacturing time from three days to less than 8 hours.
8	3600	1990	Square D cut 760 rules down to 11 policy statements.
9	3711		Honda announced that it will launch the 2nd overhaul of management since March 1991. Changes will give more autonomy to Honda's operations in N. America, Europe and Japan, and will delegate more authority back to lower levels of management.
10	3711	1989	At Volvo's plant without assembly lines, there are no first-line foremen and only 2 tiers of managers. Each team has a spokesperson who reports to one of 6 plant managers, who in turn report to the president of the complex.
11	3711	1986	Although the Toyota-GM joint venture plant uses out-of-date technology to assemble Chevrolet Novas, its productivity is higher than most of GM's new plants. Experts say that one of the keys is their placing decision-making as close as possible to the assembly line.
12	3711	1986	Experts say that one of the keys to Toyota's plant productivity is its lean layers of middle management.
13	3714	1997	Regal-Beloit believes that process control begins with lower-level quick decision-making employees.
14	3724	1993	To cut costs, Derco increased to 8 the number of managers who can approve bids. When only two people had such authority, "it bogged down the whole process."
15	3751	1988	Vice presidents act as consultants for field managers who take responsibility. Huffy now makes 50% more bikes w/ 30% fewer employees.
16	3751	1988	Huffy CEO tries to keep corporate staff small, delegate to operating companies. Huffy cut top management from 70 people to 7 in less than 5 years. Mass-market bike business highly competitive, ravaged by import competition.
17	3812	1988	Whistler cut its defect rate and improved productivity/worker by 100% with new system: kanban system pulls parts through the plant; workers can send units back or halt assembly lines to fix a problem; workers and management agree on production goals; and workers can leave early if they've met their quota.
18	3861	1990	Kodak started having assembly workers arrange their own hours, keep track of their own productivity, and fix their own machines. They now do nearly the same amount of work in one shift that used to require three.
19	5122	2001	AmeriSource's success as a drug distributor has been attributed to good cost control and a focus on customer service. "We empower our managers to make decisions at the distribution center level."
20	5812	1993	Sharps fired most of its corporate staff, empowered restaurant managers with "100% Power and Responsibility," and undertook a massive promotion campaign. Turned the business around.

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