Real Value

I saw this picture and it was funny but it made me think. The picture was probably Dell’s or Window’s attempt at viral marketing but you really have to think to yourself sure it makes a good point but why do I even want my camera to break in the first place? Has it gotten so bad that now we are relying on scare tactics to get the consumer to buy 1 product vs another?

How are things done at your company? Do you focus on what the customer wants? Here are some good questions to ask:
1) Do your process revolve around the customer or do they revolve around departments?
2) Are you more concerned about running equipment as long as possible or do you build around people and have the machine serve work for them instead of the other way around?
3) How many tasks do you do that are only for the company and not for the customer?

Here are some things you can do:
– Eliminate waste. TIM WOOD acronym is handy: Transportation, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Over processing, Over production, Defects
– Map a process by it’s customer not by the tasks. Find what types of customers you have and then map out all the tasks that need to be done to satisfy the customer. Record data like process times, wait times, and inventory levels and you have a Value Stream map.
– Get everyone involved in problem solving. The people working the process every day will be the best ones to help you with solutions.

Are you doing adding value for the customer?