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.

C. Improve the accuracy of the demand forecast.

A more accurate forecast of demand would enable the company to plan its capacity more precisely to meet that demand, creating the opportunity to eliminate some unused capacity.

Use more recent experience in the forecast

No.	Industry SIC	Year	Notes
1	1521	2005	To help keep its homes affordable, Technical Olympic uses as many prefabricated components as possible. It also has adopted project-management and inventory-flow technology to make sure things happen where and when they should. The system also calls for builders and superintendents walking around with PDAs, entering every stage of construction in every house and sending that information in on the network. That's an immediate edge over the smaller, local builders with whom Technical Olympic mainly competes. Another advantage over the little guy is discount prices on large quantities of appliances.
2	2399	2004	When Levi began to sell to Wal-Mart Stores last year, it overhauled its entire operation, from design to production, pricing to distribution. Under the new system, Levi goods would arrive from independent factories with store tags already attached. Wal-Mart's own trucks would pick them up and deliver them to Wal-Mart's distribution centers, from where they would be sent to individual stores. The new system would enable Levi to get new jeans to Wal-Mart faster than the old process. The speed, plus the feedback from Wal-Mart, would let Levi reduce guesswork about the number of pairs needed. The goal was to greatly reduce excess stock and markdowns.
3	2421	2006	In an effort to improve inventory management, Weyerhaeuser Co. has started asking customers for lumber forecasts. That kind of demand forecasting has been adopted by many companies in other industries, but is a first for the lumber industry. Weyerhaeuser hopes this new method will help it avoid the boom-bust cycles the company has long endured. Under the company's new program, three supply-chain managers each month gather data from all 43 of the company's North American sales regions on what customers say they plan to order in the next 6 to 24 months. Then, Weyerhaeuser tries to match the forecasts with more nimble manufacturing. Timber managers, for instance, are planning logging regimens around the forecasts.
4	3571	2004	Dell dominates the PC market by manufacturing PCs from standard parts which are dropping in prices daily. Computers are sold directly to consumers and they are built only after they are ordered, allowing it to offer the lowest possible price. The dynamic pricing system adjusts prices minute-by-minute based on demand, cost, competition and type of customer. The company is given more flexibility than competitors who advertise prices. The computers are also delivered faster than those of competitors, less than a week compared with H-P's two or three week delivery time.
5	4131	1993	Greyhound's new reservation system will give management instant access to ridership figures, allowing it to allocate buses and manpower more efficiently and make more extensive use of discount fares to fill seats that would otherwise empty.
6	4512	2003	Marks on the hangar floor inform the tug operator and the mechanics where a plane will stop, equipment will be kept, and workers will be deployed. Performance-management boards close to the aircraft convey the status of each task and thus help the team utilize resources efficiently and in real time.
7	4800	2007	Some companies are using software to get a more timely and accurate view of its field force, allowing managers to make decisions as events unfold. A US cable company that began using a real-time dispatch system increased the number of jobs completed each day by 80 and reduced the time customers spent waiting for appointments with technicians by 30 minutes. Managers found that while the jobs were completed quickly, significant time was wasted between appointments. Managers can also use the data to fill in gaps in response to shifting demand, maximizing capacity.
8	4841	2008	Companies with large field service teams find it hard to raise productivity mainly because they underestimate what can be done in a day and fail to recognize the huge number of cancellations per day. One way to solve this problem is by giving teams more work than they can actually complete knowing that some customers will cancel. Companies can also dispatch teams in the field more flexibly by reassigning them on the spot as jobs are canceled and new ones pop up. Manager should also assign "ride-alongs" to observe teams at work and use the information to raise efficiency.
9	4911	1988	FP&L cut down the length and cost of power outages by tracking storms, in order to place repair crews in more strategic positions.
10	5411	2004	Albertson's is using new technology to gather information and build customer loyalty. The chain spent $500 million on technology last year. This year, it is outfitting all store directors and managers with devices that'll tell them such things as when to restock.
11	5722	1993	At Tops, staffing and schedules are revised weekly according to floor traffic to insure that no employee has too much or too little to do.
12	7372	2004	Product life-cycle management (PLM) software is being embraced as a way of using software to manage a product from dawn to dusk of its like: from creation through development, manufacturing, testing, and then maintenance in the field. PLM's lifelike 3D mock-ups make concepts easier to grasp because the human brain rapidly processes sights like those that are familiar in daily life. At Pratt & Whitney Canada's plant, a 3D manikin that's a computer model reaches into a colorful 3D computer mockup of an aircraft engine, testing to see if a human repair person will encounter any obstructions in accessing parts of a real-life engine.
13	7514	1995	Hertz, a unit of Ford, poured cash into a computerized yield-management system, which adjusts car prices based on anticipated demand. .
14	8062	2007	As the financial and human costs of medical errors become apparent, some hospitals are working to improve their system and reduce costs. Analysts at Cincinnati Children's found that prescriptions traveled 2,100 feet before they were ready for delivery. The pharmacy was redesigned to reduce the distance pharmacists must travel. The turnaround time for non-urgent bedside medicines was reduced from 23 hours to 5 hours and the number of medicines that had to be discarded because patients had already been discharged was reduced by half.
15	8062	2001	Technology may be the key to helping hospitals debottleneck. A new "bed tracking" system can help the hospital keep tabs on which beds are vacated and when. Using the current system, the ER has to call admissions to ask for a bed, who have to call a nurse to walk over and find a clean room.
16	8071	2006	Hospitals are moving to cut dangerous lab errors through improved specimen collection and efficiency. Each year, 300,000 patients with thyroid nodules are tested by inserting a needle into a growth and extracting cells. However, 25% of the time, the tests miss tumor cells and produce false negatives. In January 2005, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center began posting a pathologist at the bedside of patients undergoing a needle biopsy to evaluate the quality of samples. The hospital was able to drop the false-negative rate on malignant tumors to less than 5% and sharply reduce the number of patients who needed second biopsies.
17	6141	2008	MasterCard, in partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland, is launching a corporate card that allows companies to set strict parameters on which restaurants, bars, and hotels their employees can patronize. MasterCard is also looking to pitch a version of the new card to parents who want to keep tabs on their kids' spending. Parents could program the cards so they receive text messages when their kids are spending excessively or about to exceed their limit.
18	6141	2008	MasterCard, in partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland, is launching a corporate card that allows companies to set strict parameters on which restaurants, bars, and hotels their employees can patronize. It will help reduce maverick spending, improve compliance with corporate policies, and simplify accounting. On inControl's web interface, a supervisor can set up an overall spending limit for an individual employee or an entire staff category, as well as compile a list of approved hotels and restaurants. They can also choose to have charges declined after a certain hour or at a questionable establishment. A feature allows managers to receive real-time updates on their employees' spending via email or text message. The system also allows companies to issue cards that are good for one time use or expire in a week.

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