A Process Of On-Going Improvement (POOGI) - Part 20

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt.

What are the problems associated with marketing and sales? A few of the typical problems include:

• To prospects, what you say sounds the same as your competitors
• You have nothing unique or compelling to offer that is different
• Prospects aren’t aware of you
• You aren’t aware of enough prospects
• You have a collection of sales individuals, not a sales team
• You have difficulty getting in to see your prospect
• You have a long sales cycle
• You have a low closing rate
• You have difficulty quoting as many jobs as you would like
• Quote turnaround is too long
• There are peaks and valleys of booking sales

Yikes! That is a lot of problems! Where do we start to improve marketing and sales?

We recommend you start with your market offer or as we like to call it, your Mafia Offer. Without differentiating yourself from your competitors, it is difficult to determine what else is wrong with your marketing and sales process, and how to improve.

...to be continued.

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!

Dr Lisa Lang(c)Copyright 2008, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.

Dr Goldratt offers his new book Inherent Simplicity at no charge, click here to get the details: http://www.scienceofbusiness.com/dr-lisa/eliyahu-goldratt/goldratts-new-book.aspx

2008 Odyssey Program. Click here to learn about the low cost life changing event for young adults. You WANT to send your kids to this! http://www.scienceofbusiness.com/events/2008-odyssey.aspx

NEXT Group Mafia Offer Boot Camp: July 30, 31, Aug 1 2008 in Denver. More information at www.MafiaOffers.com. There are also PRIVATE and On-line Mafia Offer Boot Camps.

NEXT Maximizing Profitability Event (no charge): July 29, 2008 in Denver from 1:00 to 5:00 pm at the Science of Business Training Center. More information at www.Viable-Vision.com

Also check out our FREE Theory of Constraints videos. New videos added weekly! http://www.scienceofbusiness.com/free-stuff/free-videos-audios.aspx

A Process Of On-Going Improvement (POOGI) - Part 19

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt.

Up to this point, we have discussed how Drum-Buffer-Rope scheduling has the potential to double your capacity with little or no investment or expense. And Throughput Accounting has provided you visibility on the rate at which you make money.

Both of these “technologies” are part of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), a holistic business process improvement body of knowledge developed by Dr. Goldratt, author of The Goal. TOC is especially effective in job shops. In fact, The Goal was about a turnaround of a job shop.

However, if you can’t sell more with your newly available capacity, there won’t be a bottom-line effect. And we find cutting the people—to save a little cost—who collaborated to increase the productivity of your organization unconscionable. It is management’s responsibility to have the marketing and sales processes in place to increase sales, utilize the capacity, and dramatically improve the bottom-line.

Unfortunately, the marketing and sales processes of most organizations are already getting the results they are designed to get. To get more, something has to change.

...to be continued.

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!

Dr Lisa Lang

(c)Copyright 2008, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.

Next GROUP Mafia Offer Boot Camp is July 30, 31, Aug 1 2008!

Also check out our FREE Theory of Constraints videos. New videos added weekly! http://www.scienceofbusiness.com/free-stuff/free-videos-audios.aspx

About the co-authors:

“Dr. Lisa” Lang is President of the Science of Business. Her TOC speech “Maximizing Profitability” is popular with Vistage/TEC groups and as a keynote speech. Recently Dr. Goldratt’s Global Marketing Director, she offers the “Mafia Offer Boot Camp” for companies wanting to develop and implement their own Mafia Offer. She can be reached at DrLisa@ScienceofBusiness.com or 303-909-3343.

Brad Stillahn is a business owner that has successfully implemented TOC methods in his own business and is now helping other business owners do the same. His consulting company, TOC Professionals, is a new NTMA member. TOC Professionals works with companies implementing all aspects of TOC. His business and personal partner is Dr. Lisa Lang. Brad can be reached at Brad@ScienceofBusiness.com or 303-886-9939.

A Process Of On-Going Improvement (POOGI) - Part 18

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt.

You can also perform a sensitivity analysis to determine the breakeven level of T/CU. In this example, it would be the Operating Expense level of $615,000 divided by 2,912 which is $211.20.

Pricing with Throughput Accounting is much easier and potentially much more dangerous. It is easier because there is no such thing as “product cost” to calculate. Instead, each product is evaluated for its Throughput per Constraint Unit. And overall, for the business, the average T/CU must be enough to achieve the Net Profit goal. It’s dangerous because any amount of Throughput does contribute to the bottom-line, but there must be the discipline to maintain the T/CU average needed to achieve the Net Profit goal. Pricing to achieve incremental business is not for novices.

For example, say you are quoting a new job. You estimate it will take 50 hours of milling. The Truly Variable Costs are estimated to be $5,000. Here is your estimate:

Hours of milling 50
T/CU desired $258
Throughput desired $12,900
Truly Variable Costs $5,000
Total Estimate $17,900

We understand that this method is much different and you may have many questions. If so, and/or you would like help calculating T/CU for your business, please feel free to contact us.

If you’d like to learn more about Throughput Accounting, we recommend the following materials (which were also used in developing the discussion above):

• “The Haystack Syndrome” by Dr. Goldratt,
• “Throughput Accounting” by Corbett.
• "Maximizing Profitability" by Dr Lisa (hit the ground running w/ 3 hr audio and workbook)

...to be continued.

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!
Dr Lisa Lang

(c)Copyright 2008, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.

Next GROUP Mafia Offer Boot Camp is July 30, 31, Aug 1 2008!Also check out our FREE Theory of Constraints videos. New videos added very week! http://www.scienceofbusiness.com/free-stuff/free-videos-audios.aspx

A Process Of On-Going Improvement (POOGI) - Part 17

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt.

Let’s apply this to your business. In order to do so, you’ll need to make some calculations. First, write down your annual sales. Second, subtract the Truly Variable Costs (these include raw materials, outsourcing, freight in and out, and sales commissions). The difference between the two is your dollar Throughput.

From throughput subtract all of your fixed costs which we call Operating Expense. The difference is your Net Profit.

For example:

Sales $1,400,000
Truly Variable Costs -$650,000
Throughput =$750,000
Operating Expense -$615,000
Net Profit =$135,000

Let’s further assume that you have lathes and mills in your machine shop. You have identified that milling is your constraint resource. You have only two milling machines operating one shift. You have calculated the available capacity as:

Number of mills 2
Hours per year 2,080
Percent available 70%
Available hours 2,912

The 2,912 hours is how many “Constraint Units” you have available.

The Throughput of $750,000 divided by 2,912 hours is $257.55. That is your “Throughput per Constraint Unit” (T/CU).

What is the meaning of this number? The Throughput per Constraint Unit is the amount of margin needed per operating hour of your limiting resource to cover Operating Expense and achieve your Net Profit. It is the rate at which you make money.
...to be continued.

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!
Dr Lisa Lang

(c)Copyright 2008, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.
Next GROUP Mafia Offer Boot Camp is June 25, 26, 27 2008!
Also check out our FREE Theory of Constraints videos. New videos added very week! http://www.scienceofbusiness.com/free-stuff/free-videos-audios.aspx

A Process Of On-Going Improvement (POOGI) - Part 16

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt.

Dr. Goldratt says it this way: “If a process of ongoing improvement is what we are after, which of the three avenues of Throughput, Inventory, or Operating Expense is more promising? If we just think for a minute the answer becomes crystal clear. Both Inventory and Operating Expense we strive to decrease. Thus, both of them offer limited opportunity for ongoing improvement. Both of them offer only limited opportunity for ongoing improvement. They are both limited by zero. This is not the case with the third measurement, Throughput. We strive to increase Throughput. Throughput does not have any intrinsic limitation; Throughput must be the cornerstone of any Process Of On-Going Improvement (POOGI). It must be first on the scale of importance.”

Therefore, to make decisions according to Theory of Constraints (TOC) and Throughput Accounting, we need to quantify a decision’s impact on these three measurements and then we will be able to determine the change in net profit and return on investment.

The role of the company’s constraint is fundamental for quantifying the decision’s impact on the three measurements. Thus, to identify which products contribute the most to the company’s net profit, TOC also advocates the use of the measurement of “Throughput per time of the constraint (T/CU)”. This method is much simpler than the product costing and it allows for fast decisions that are directly linked to the bottom line.

...to be continued.

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!

Dr Lisa Lang

(c)Copyright 2008, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.

Next GROUP Mafia Offer Boot Camp is June 25, 26, 27 2008!

A Process Of On-Going Improvement (POOGI) - Part 15

We are continuing our series based on The Goal by Eliyahu M Goldratt.

We have discussed some of the problems with Cost Accounting, yet only touched on the alternative, “Throughput Accounting”. We promised to explore Throughput Accounting in more depth, and explain how implementing its concepts will help you understand the rate at which your company makes money. We also promised to discuss how Throughput Accounting can influence pricing decisions.

We are discussing Throughput Accounting from the perspective of the Theory of Constraints (TOC), a body of knowledge developed by Dr. Eliyahu M Goldratt and others over the last thirty years to support a process of ongoing improvement.

The fundamental concept in TOC is that every real system, such as your for-profit business, must have at least one constraint. If it were not true, your business would produce an infinite amount of net profit. Because a constraint limits your business system from getting more net profit, then if you want more net profit you must manage constraints. These constraints will determine the net profit of your business whether they are acknowledged and managed or not.

TOC and Throughput Accounting introduce three measurements for increasing net profit:
1. increase Throughput (Sales minus truly variable costs such as raw materials),
2. decrease Investment, particularly in inventories,
3. decrease Operating Expenses (that is, fixed costs).

...to be continued.

Here's to maximizing YOUR profits!

Dr Lisa Lang

(c)Copyright 2008, Dr Lisa, Inc. All rights reserved.