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.

Train employees in efficiency. The company may incur costs to train employees in the expectation that these expenses will result in even greater cost savings through better efficiency.

Publish best practices:
For speedy task completion

No.	Industry SIC	Year	Notes
1	2911	1996	Chevron has a position of process master that oversees different processes across all six refineries and makes sure they share information for efficiencies. Chevron also has a best-practices discovery team, of ten quality-improvement managers and computer personnel.
2	4213	1997	Adopting best practices for the pickup and delivery, dock, and hosting functions should generate $21 million in cost reductions in terminal expenses.
3	4215	1990	UPS route drivers are taught to hold their clipboards under their right arms, packages under their left, with keys on the middle finger of their right hands. They take just one look at the package to fix the address in their minds, then walk to the house at three feet per second.
4	4215	2007	UPS adopted sophisticated training techniques to teach new hires how to do the job efficiently when it realized that its costly and time-consuming system was not yielding results. The shipper's 340 methods cover everything from where to get gas to how to carry keys to ensure that the job is done quickly and safely. A fall simulator trains drivers to avoid obstacles, and costly medical bills.
5	4512	2003	Lean-oriented flights designed with a true assembly line work flow in mind may be worthwhile. The process is disciplined to the standard: one person is responsible for the job; each function is in place and ready to go before the plane arrives; passengers are briefed prior to boarding; flight attendants help stow carry-on baggage to speed seating.
6	4512	2004	From the moment a plane arrives at the gate, every single Southwest employee knows the role he or she had to play to ensure that the plane leaves the gate within the allotted time.
7	4512	2004	For example, all gate employees have pre-assigned roles as soon as a plane gets within calling-in-range to ensure that the plane can be turned around within the establish metric.
8	6300	2003	The company undertook the essential work of documenting the procedures and standard operations that were by now in place at the model cell so that they could be transferred to the new work cells that would be set up in Greensboro and Concord.
9	6300	2004	With 10M claims professionals, the company sees many new ideas. The centralized audit group allows the company to share the best practices faster.
10	1600	2008	Many companies show a need for broader management strategy that addresses how they are creating, sharing, and using knowledge. Sharing-wise, the focus increasingly is on putting all the content a specific group of workers needs in one place, regardless of its source. Many organizations are using Web portals or internet sites as one-stop information shops designed to support jobs or work processes. Fluor Corp. has a website that allows 25,000 workers immediate access to all the procedures, guidelines, and standards needed for their particular job function. For example, an engineer of electrical power plants has access to designs, specifications, and best practices for that kind of plant.

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