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.

7.
Standardize ICDs

No.	Industry SIC	Year	Notes
1	2833	2004	Santarus took Prilosec's basic formula and made one important change to the delivery system: It added an antacid to offset side effects such as diarrhea, nausea, flatulence and abdominal pain. Santarus used AstraZeneca's own safety data on the core drug to get Food and Drug Administration approval. Santarus got a running start and saved lots of money.
2	3571	2003	A "product simplification task force" in IBM pushes divisions to use standardized parts even if that means redesign. Eliminating customized parts saves $50 per unit on these servers, which cost from $2100 to $2300; IBM sells 22,500 of these machines in a year. It used to give away a $2000 toolbox with low-end mainframes, but IBM has put an end to this. In PCs, IBM replaced its 4-color packaging box with a 2-color blue and black box that costs a nickel less, saving $350,000 a year.
3	4512	1997	To cut costs, Alaska got rid of its inefficient 727s, reducing its fleet to just 2 types of planes and gaining big savings in maintenance, training and parts inventories.
4	5311	1996	Sears cut down the channels through which store managers had to order products from 12 to 4. That helped increase the average load of delivery trucks to 90% of capacity from 60%.
5	6311	2003	In standardizing procedures, the company learned that while they had given employees considerable freedom in managing their work that made it difficult for other workers to fill in. Instead, the company standardized all processes.
6	7311	1991	Trend in advertising is consolidation. More and more clients are reducing the # of agencies with which they do business. Consolidation offers efficiencies and savings.
7	8062	2007	As the financial and human costs of medical errors become apparent, some hospitals are working to improve their system and reduce costs. Cincinnati Children's implemented strict preoperative procedures to ensure that all safety measures were in place.

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