Don't Sacrifice Quality When Reducing Costs

Surely the most important issue home builders are facing today is improving performance — reducing costs and leveraging resources to improve profitability. In fact, a new American Society for Quality survey shows a majority of manufacturers are optimistic about a small economic uptick in 2010 at their organizations. However, respondents believe further cost-cutting measures will continue to be implemented. The results show a majority of respondents (64.7 percent) employed in the manufacturing sector predict their organizations will experience some financial recovery in 2010. Sixty-one percent believe their organization will create processes to reduce costs. The top three tips that respondents would give to manufacturers to ensure revenue growth in 2010 were:

• Take part in continuous improvement practices and increase the use of quality processes
• Increase customer satisfaction
• Implement more Lean processes

It’s interesting to note that while these organizations are focusing on reducing costs, they are also focusing on increasing customer satisfaction. No, that’s not impossible. This is not the time to cut quality or customer satisfaction, and it can be done while reducing costs.

Read more blog posts by Denis Leonard here.