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.

8. Accept risk of lower profits

Accept the potential of lower revenue

No.	Industry SIC	Year	Notes
1	2711	2006	The Baltimore Examiner is standing out as arguably the boldest experiment yet in America's deepening flirtation with free daily newspapers. The Baltimore Examiner aims to be a slimmed down, but full-fledged metro daily, complete with a copydesk, photographers, editors, and reporters. Though there have been alternative weekly papers stacked in coffee shops and bookstores for decades, and free dailies handed out to commuters in recent years, this new subscriber-less paper will offer daily news targeted to the suburbs and the tonier parts of the city.
2	3600	1998	Aer-Dan Precision competes in the wireless industry by having the customer set the price (they match the price demanded). Agreeing to a customer's price secures long-term contracts (5 years) and the company does have to worry about sales.
3	4011	2004	A lot of European countries as well as a trolley in Hoboken, N.J. don't use conductors on their trains. Passengers punch their own tickets instead of having conductors collect them. Having an honor system (which includes tough penalties to free riders) saves on labor costs and makes train travel less expensive.
4	4800	2004	Skype has no phone lines or pricey switching equipment of its own, instead using subscribers' PCs and the public Internet to run its network. And rather than spending millions on marketing, the 70-employee company relies entirely on word-of-mouth. The result is a cost structure major phone companies can't touch.
5	5311	1991	Between 1906-8, Sears eliminated counting money in incoming mail orders; it weighed the money envelopes instead of opening them. It also scheduled order handling and shipping according to the weight of the incoming mail. Within 2 years, there was a tenfold increase in productivity.
6	5411	2004	While dollar stores still rely on low-income households for the majority of sales, some dollar store companies are moving up the retail food chain. The lure of the decades-old dollar stores is putting pressure on major retailers who are also grappling with the effect of higher food prices and stagnant wages. Retailers including Target Corp., Albertsons Inc., and Kroger Co. have responded to the dollar-store phenomenon by installing aisles in stores devoted to items costing $1. It's a consumer trend they're not going to ignore.
7	5411	2008	Tesco PLC opened its first stores in the U.S. last month, using Dunnhumby Ltd., which also works for Kroger Co., to fine-tune its offerings to shoppers' needs. In order to calm shoppers' concerns about releasing too much private information when applying for store cards, applications for Kroger Cards calls only for their name, address, and language preference. In the U.K., Tesco shoppers also provide info on their age, household size, and special dietary needs.
8	5735	2004	RealNetworks has cut the price of its song downloads to 49 cents from 99 cents for a limited time. Apple, which has sold more than 100 million songs on its iTunes site, charges 99 cents a song. The price cut is great publicity for RealNetworks, but it will lose money on each song it sells for 49 cents.
9	5812	2007	Some small cafes like Terra Bite Lounge and One World Café have instituted policies in which customers set their own prices. This is financially viable because generous patrons cover the tabs of those who pay less and the business does not have to employ extra workers or services to handle financial transactions. It also has the added benefit of positive publicity.
10	6021	2007	As the number of customers who default on their home loans increases, banks are turning to short sales. The banks allow the property to be sold for less than the total amount due and forgives the remaining debt. The process is shorter and less costly than foreclosure for the bank and better for the customer.
11	6300	2005	Over the last five years, there has been a tendency among larger businesses to use a broker of record (BOR). In this letter, the broker is the exclusive agent for the company. This has largely come about as a result of brokers insisting on it. Where five years ago only 20% of the business was BOR, today about 70% is.
12	7929	2004	Team Love, a new music label, and its first two bands, Tilly and the Wall and Willy Mason, are embracing the Net and using it in innovative ways. It has the potential to recast the industry because the Net frees musicians from the need for major labels, allowing them to market themselves by giving away their music and to communicate with fans through message boards and blogs. Major labels typically need a band to sell at least 500,000 records to make a decent profit because of their high overhead. Efficient indie bands cut out the middlemen and can make a tidy living on 20,000 or 30,000 albums. Tilly and Team Love expect to break even at 10,000 CDs, a respectable number for an indie band's first album. With the online marketing backed up by a tour, Tilly has sold 3,000 copies of its album in the two months since the CD's release.
13	7929	2007	Radiohead promoted its new album by allowing its listeners to name their own price for the download. The average fan was willing to pay $10 for a digital copy, the going rate on Apple's iTunes. However, Radiohead, with its unique affiliations, can distribute an album for as little as $3.40, producing a significant profit.
14	7999	2006	StubHub Inc. is a leading Internet player in the burgeoning market of ticket reselling. StubHub previously had an agreement to list its available tickets on eBay. But soon StubHub. com began competing directly with eBay, which is a force in the reselling business. Rather than charging sellers listing fees like eBay does, StubHub offers free listings on its own site. Sellers pay a 15% commission when tickets are sold; buyers pay a 10% commission plus a delivery charge. StubHub has no ticket inventory of its own, reducing its risk.
15	8062	1991	A few hospitals have taken most of the labor and expense out of admissions by recording only information found on insurance ID cards, rather than requiring lengthy forms.

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