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.

D. Use short term sources of Input to meet peak demand.

The company would intentionally plan less capacity than it would need to meet its peak demand. It would supply the peak with other sources of capacity.

Stretch for short periods

No.	Industry SIC	Year	Notes
1	0		One company asked employees to work overtime during a peak in return for the company's promise to eliminate all future layoffs. When still under strain, it called in retirees. In the summer, it hired college students. And, it hired through temporary services.
2	3312	1989	Employers are also keeping work forces lean. When strong demand and tight supplies strained capacity in 1988, steel producers scheduled more overtime instead of adding workers.
3	3760	1994	Lockheed has tried to control the growth of its overhead by limiting it to 85% of perceived needed, making up the difference with overtime first and then temps.
4	4213	1997	Because demand has been stronger than expected, Yellow has kept more trucks than earlier planned with the average age of its line-haul fleet falling to 4 1/2 years rather than 4 years old from its former average of 5 years old.
5	4512	1996	On the MD-88, Delta added more passenger seats by taking out a galley–but didn't replace the storage space. Now flight attendants store soda cans in ovens.
6	5411	1995	Publix also teaches its employees flexibility: an assistant manager fills in at the registers at a moment's notice, and virtually any employee may be called upon to do "spot mopping" of spills.

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