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.
Use temporary help
No. | Industry SIC | Year | Notes |
1 | 0 | 2008 | More employers are warming up to the practice of hiring interim executives. The search for temporary chief financial officers have grown to about 12 or more a month from 10 or less a year ago. Start-up firms that place interim executives, such as Business Talent Group and Epoch, charge clients fees that include the salaries for the candidates they place. By contrast, traditional executive search firms generally recruit senior talent for permanent positions and don't facilitate the payment process for hired candidates. However, more of these firms are taking on searches for temporary assignments. |
2 | 0 | 2008 | More employers are warming up to the practice of hiring interim executives. Temporary executive jobs require more than the strategic input that consulting positions give. They are hired to execute and operate, and typically work closely with a company's top managers and their reports, like a full-time employee would. In Europe, the practice has been long-standing because terminating an employee is expensive and difficult, making the cost of hiring a bad full-time employee very high. |
3 | 3825 | 1988 | Tektronix takes its permanent hires from among its temporary workers; this motivates workers and makes them willing to remain longer in temp jobs at the company. |
4 | 4213 | 2004 | Celadon's Mexico business has brought 120 drivers over from Mexico on a work visa program to help ease the shortage. |
5 | 4513 | 1997 | Scads of part timers keep costs low. UPS has created 46,000 new union jobs, but 80% are part time. |
6 | 4911 | 2005 | Consumer Powerline is making it big by saving electricity. When summer heat and lightning storms threatened powerlines near New York on July 27th, Consolidated Edison called, and Consumer Powerline's clients cut back 22 megawatts. Morgan Stanley got entirely off the power grid by shutting off its ticker in Times Square and drawing the energy it needed to run its office buildings and trading desks from banks of small gas-powered generators in its basement. Such reductions stave off rate hikes for Gordon's clients. They saved $2.5 billion in future electric bills that day. |
7 | 4911 | 2007 | In order to meet demands from customers and regulators and avoid constructing new facilities, many utility companies are using technology to change the energy usage of their customers. Tools such as advanced electric meters, in-home displays, remote control devices and innovative pricing plans are designed to help consumers make conscious decisions about their energy usage. Edison International has hired technicians in California to conduct more extensive air-conditioning tune-ups to make the units run more efficiently. The company is also testing a cycling program in order to reduce usage by 40%. Many consumers have been willing to allow the power company to switch their air conditioning on and off remotely. |
8 | 8742 | 2006 | The rise of mobile workers has companies rethinking how to utilize their office space. Some companies are already making radical changes. Deloitte & Touche is rolling out "hoteling" in its offices around the world. The term refers to the practice of having mobile employees dial up an office concierge and reserve space as needed rather than hogging prime real estate when they rarely make an appearance in the office. Deloitte's version comes with concierges who will do anything for you – refill whatever office supplies you need, plugs specially outfitted for laptops, iPods, and cell phone chargers. |
9 | 8742 | 2006 | Consulting company, Accenture Ltd., is a virtual company run by executives on the fly. Accenture has no operational headquarters and no formal branches. Its chief financial officer lives in Silicon Valley. Its chief technologist is based in Germany. The head of human resources is in Chicago, and the firm's thousands of management and technology consultants are constantly on the go, often reviewing projects and negotiating new contracts in clients' offices or working temporarily in offices that Accenture leases in more than 100 locations around the world. |
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