Production & Delivery Resources

Matrix Key:  Financial Viability - Production and Delivery - Resources

"The waste of plenty is the resource of scarcity." - Thomas Love Peacock

It should be no secret to business owners that in these challenging economic times, managing resources well is essential to being profitable.  In the Financial Viability quadrant of the WholeLife Matrix, we dig into resources management as part of a successful production and delivery system.  The first question to ask is, what exactly are we managing?

Every production and delivery system has four key resources:

1. Facilities and Equipment
2. Inventory
3. Labor
4. Management 

When you break your system down into these four parts you accomplish two things.  First, you identify more clearly what needs to be managed within each of the four resources.  Second, you begin to see how they affect each other.  Each resource should be managed and measured in different ways but also in the context of the entire production system.  A breakdown in any of the four will have serious impact on the rest.  The key is to manage all your resources both independently and collectively if you want your company to succeed.

We continue to offer our Deeper Dive into the Whole Life Matrix, a free bi-weekly discussion of different elements of the WholeLife Matrix. To join the Deeper Dive, email Ralph@Consulting2Win.com, with "Deeper Dive" in the subject line.  We will send you the log-in information for the call.  

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Measurements of Performance

Matrix Key:  Financial Viability - Production and Delivery - Measurements of Performance

"In God we trust...all others bring data." - W. Edwards Deming

In business, you can't just amble along and hope that things are going OK.  The only way to measure your success is to do just that, measure your success.  But what do you measure?  And when?  There are literally hundreds of potential performance measures.  Using the WholeLife Matrix, we divide these measurements into four key areas within your production and delivery system:

1. Management - how do you know if your executive leadership is doing a good job?
2. Company - what do you measure to best showcase your company's financial performance in the marketplace?
3. Individual Job Descriptions - how do you and your employees know what is expected of them?
4. Rewards and Consequences - how do you hold the organization accountable for your measurements of performance?

It's important to develop standards that are relevant to your company and that are challenging,  yet attainable. Too many metrics make the focus of your production on the metrics and not the product.  Too few takes the focus away from "doing it right."  You must take the time to develop a set of performance measures that you can calculate quickly and review often.  You can't win the game of business if you don't have some way of keeping score.

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The Production & Delivery Team

Matrix Key:  Financial Viability - Production and Delivery - Team

"Individuals don't win in business, teams do." - Sam Walton

Sam Walton knew a thing or two about building a viable business.  Whether your business is a small mom-and-pop operation or the next WalMart, it will not succeed without a production and delivery team that is committed to winning the game.  Take a look at how this shows up in the WholeLife Matrix.  It's not just a matter of hiring the right people and stepping back.  Business owners and managers have a responsibility to consistently coach their teams to perform effectively on the playing field.

Successful production and delivery teams depend on four key components:

1. They have a common goal.
2. They are committed to a high level of performance.
3. They can easily define and align on their purpose.
4. They have a plan and know how to execute it.

Putting together a high performance team that can deliver on the company's goals over time is a huge part of a manager's job.  Motivating your team is an ongoing and necessary process, but it is one that will pay tremendous dividends in the long run.  If your team is unskilled and uninspired, your business will fail.  Better to devote some resources to creating teams that can win the game.

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Production & Delivery Procedures

Matrix Key:  Financial Viability - Production and Delivery - Procedures

"A bad system will beat a good person every time." - W. Edwards Deming

We've often talked about how a good business shares many of the characteristics of a winning sports team.  No team can win the game if they don't know the rules.  As we can see from the WholeLife Matrix, your business will not win if you don't have production and delivery procedures in place. Imagine trying to create a product if your team has no idea how to make it?  You must create specific procedures for all aspects of your production system, and you must review and update them regularly.

Here are four things to think about when developing your production procedures:

1. Systems - Break down your production flow into logical steps.
2. Standards -  Define how to make your product the best it can be.
3. Quality - How will you know if the product meets your standards?
4. Customer Service - How do you respond to your customer?

Developing procedures takes time and effort, but it is time well spent.  The trick is to have specific actions that your employees and staff understand.  They also need to grasp the "why" behind the "how."  If your procedures make sense and clearly make a contribution to the end product and to customer satisfaction, your employees will take more ownership in doing the job right.  When they know the rules, they can win the game.

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