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Operations is a generic term for the activities which actually produce the products or services of the business, which may be either for-profit or not-for-profit organizations. Operations is the heart and soul of the business, the driving force that provides the “bread and butter” to pay wages, cover overhead, and reward shareholders for their investment.
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Operating departments, both line and staff, must work closely together to achieve common goals. Often these goals are not well defined for short-term objectives or long-term strategy development. Owners and top management sometimes become so involved in developing new business and obtaining financial support for growth that the basic operating efficiency of the business slips away. Conversely, management can also be so close to the operations that it fails to recognize early symptoms of a deteriorating situation.
The expert advisors at OnCallPSN understand the problems faced daily in the current business climate. If you are in management, one or more of these items may ring a bell:
- Being squeezed between rising costs and customer price reduction programs, causing profit erosion or loss of sales to domestic or foreign sources.
- Experiencing excessive product scrap and rework in certain production lines, raising cost-of-goods-sold and reducing profits.
- Coping with bottleneck operations which slow product or service thru-put, resulting in customer delivery problems.
- Facing ever increasing employee health insurance costs.
- Investing higher than necessary funds in inventories to hedge against deficiencies in operations. This may be in raw material, work-in-process and/or finished goods.
- Resolving frequent and often disruptive issues between management and labor.
- Watching employees doing work that add no value to the products or services.
- Trying to live with outdated office procedures which do not employ modern methods and equipment to increase efficiency, accuracy, and reduce costs.
- Enduring purchasing practices which cause (1) higher prices to be paid for raw materials and supplies, (2) excessive raw material inventories, (3) late deliveries which disrupt production schedules.
"These are a few of the challenges faced by owners and managers on a daily basis. Management must try and look objectively and dispassionately at business problems," says Tim Hartigan, OnCallPSN Advisor. "This is often very difficult because of daily demands and 'fire fighting.' Outside business advisors on call can provide objective, confidential analyses and generate workable solutions to correct problems."
Advisors note that first there must be an evaluation of the organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. "After defining the problem, the expertise of an individual advisor with the right analytical tools and support network can be brought to bear on the issues. We have the experience to know what works,” Tim says.
We may need professional services for legal, banking, and perhaps accounting audits, but these service entities cannot provide affordable operations expertise required by today’s businesses. OnCallPSN can supply these services and give owners and managers reasonable payback to justify their investment to improve operations and increase profitability. |
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