Today's international business climate is becoming more and more competitive and tough to stand out in the crowd. Additionally, more and more plant operations are moving to Mexico, China and other countries where there are lower wage rates, less intensive laws (workers compensation), etc. To succeed in today's environment, [...]
After working with many companies on a wide range of business issues, one common element permeates through all of them - the need for improvement with data integrity. It is much more than a "systems" topic; it is cornerstone to your business success. The integrity of data (whether manual [...]
No company can be successful without sales growth. Thus, a few sales strategies are always needed. Do not "sell" - sounds like I've lost my mind but "selling" in the traditional sense is no longer largely successful. And, who wants to "peddle the streets"? Instead focus on providing value. [...]
The global business community is becoming more and more competitive. In order to survive, you no longer have to be one of the best "on your block" or one of the best in the USA; instead, you must be one of the best in the world. It is becoming [...]
In manufacturing, the only route to success is to manage costs, reduce waste, and increase efficiencies. From a waste point-of-view, here are six tips to successfully reduce waste which will not only reduce costs but it also improve customer service. Stop doing those activities that no one uses anymore [...]
It is interesting to sit back and watch as companies spend millions of dollars on strategy formulation, just to achieve minimal results due to poor execution. Yet, the process repeats constantly - more money is dumped into strategy formulation, 3 ring binders, fancy Power Point slides, etc. On the [...]
Manufacturers can no longer count on customer loyalty, but they can expect customers continued demands for quality products and service. Quality has seemingly fallen out of favor in terms of the number of articles and attention in industry circles; however, it remains a bedrock principle for customer service and [...]
Exceptional customer service and customer relations can make or break your business. A few tips to improve your customer service include: Focus on providing value - know what your customers' value (service, price, features, lead time, etc). How can you be better than everyone else in providing your customer's [...]
I was asked to give a speech in January of 2008 on trends and opportunities of 2008. While researching for the speech, I reviewed the last several months of Wall Street Journal alerts and other trends, and the overall story was downright scary - oil continues to push to [...]
As complicated as most companies seem to make it, the critical factors in software selection boil down to a select few: Understand your business - what are the critical functional requirements? Don't worry about everything required in every module to run your business. Instead, take a step back and [...]
