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 quality of results

No.	Industry SIC	Year	Notes
1	3334	1996	Aluminum Co. of America has started using its internet to enable workers to access safety data worldwide.
2	3576	4	Beginning in 1992, Cisco outsourced manufacturing responsibilities for its products to partner firms like Solectron and Selestica but maintained its own quality control through digital procedures. It established procedures for quality control that were virtually infallible and then handed those to its partners.
8	3651	2008	Retailers and manufacturers are taking new steps to stem the tide of product returns. Vizio has included with its instruction booklets one-page quick-start guides that focus on the basics of set-up. And the company has recently begun including with its TVs the latest kind of cable – known by the designation HDMI – to connect its VO series TVs to high-def products, heading off customers used to older cables with different connectors.
3	4800	2007	Managers can boost productivity amongst in-home service providers by being actively engaged. Productivity is shown to increase when managers ride along to observe and spread best practices.
4	5812	2006	Restaurants are working to improve the performance of their staff through positive measures and enhanced training. Morton's does not have a large employee handbook but instead has small cards with tips and standards. Trainers also do oral rather than written tests which allow servers to give more comprehensive answers in a relaxed environment.
5	7372	2008	Outstart, an online technologies provider, allows ExactTarget's sales force to post and answer questions about the software company's products and procedures. To use SellingEdge, employees email their questions to a particular email address and their questions get posted automatically on the site. Another sales rep or sales-support staffer can then provide answers. Employees can subscribe to get email alerts every time a new question is posted. Reps can rate each other's answers and questions as well and flag inaccuracies.
6	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.
7	8071	2006	Hospitals are moving to cut dangerous lab errors through improved specimen collection and efficiency. One of the most persistent problems is poor quality of specimens. In cancer diagnoses, the biopsies have high error rates, where tumor cells might not be extracted, and the lab will make a diagnosis on what it gets. In 2004, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center developed a new, more rigorous process for collecting the specimens, including checklists for gynecologists to follow that map out correct procedures; both false positives and negatives have been reduced.

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