A Dialog between an Entrepreneur and a Consultant
Tom is an entrepreneur, and owns a factory, which produce pumps. He has a friend Jack, who is a consultant.
One day, Tom visited Jack.
Jack: How are you? Tom. Haven’t seen you for a long time?
Tom: I am tired, and to be a boss is not easy. I have to consider as much thing as I can. I have to plan as much thing as I can. To make money is not easy in these days. Can you get me advices about increasing my benefit?
Jack: To get more, and spend less.
Tom: It is too simple and abstract. Everyone knows it. Can you give me some more concrete advice?
Jack: Let us discuss the concrete advice. How can you get more order from the customers?
Tom: There are there ways: 1, lower price; 2, better quality; 3, shorter delivery date.
Jack: What methods do you prefer?
Tom: I prefer better quality and shorter delivery date. If I can not reduce the cost, I can not reduce the price.
Jack: To reduce cost is an effective way to increase benefit. How can you reduce the cost?
Tom: I think it has the following way to reduce cost.
1, buy with lower price from suppliers
2, improve the efficiency, and reduce the staff cost
3, improve the manufacture method to reduce the cost
4, reduce the inventory cost
5, improve the quality, reduce the waste
Jack: My advice is to use advanced IT technology to get more benefit.
Tom: What IT technology?
Jack: For example, if a software can help you to make the production scheduling plan automatically, how much benefit it will help you get?
Tom: I am not sure.
Jack: Let us calculate.
The scheduling software can help you make the scheduling plan more precisely and more efficiently. What effects it will have?
Tom: If so, we can response to customer in shorter time, arrange the employees more scientific. I also can save some inventory cost, because of precise plan, and I think it is also a way to improve the quality, because a better plan can make us well prepared before manufacture.
Jack: Let us use table to calculate. Please tell me your financial data of last year.
Tom told Jack the date.
Jack did the following analysis.
We estimate your sales can increase 1%, material cost can reduce 1%, labor cost can reduce 1% and overhead cost can reduce 1% because of better scheduling. You can get 144,000 benefit for one year.
Tom: I understand. I should think of buying scheduling software.
Tom is an entrepreneur, and owns a factory, which produce pumps. He has a friend Jack, who is a consultant.
One day, Tom visited Jack.
Jack: How are you? Tom. Haven’t seen you for a long time?
Tom: I am tired, and to be a boss is not easy. I have to consider as much thing as I can. I have to plan as much thing as I can. To make money is not easy in these days. Can you get me advices about increasing my benefit?
Jack: To get more, and spend less.
Tom: It is too simple and abstract. Everyone knows it. Can you give me some more concrete advice?
Jack: Let us discuss the concrete advice. How can you get more order from the customers?
Tom: There are there ways: 1, lower price; 2, better quality; 3, shorter delivery date.
Jack: What methods do you prefer?
Tom: I prefer better quality and shorter delivery date. If I can not reduce the cost, I can not reduce the price.
Jack: To reduce cost is an effective way to increase benefit. How can you reduce the cost?
Tom: I think it has the following way to reduce cost.
1, buy with lower price from suppliers
2, improve the efficiency, and reduce the staff cost
3, improve the manufacture method to reduce the cost
4, reduce the inventory cost
5, improve the quality, reduce the waste
Jack: My advice is to use advanced IT technology to get more benefit.
Tom: What IT technology?
Jack: For example, if a software can help you to make the production scheduling plan automatically, how much benefit it will help you get?
Tom: I am not sure.
Jack: Let us calculate.
The scheduling software can help you make the scheduling plan more precisely and more efficiently. What effects it will have?
Tom: If so, we can response to customer in shorter time, arrange the employees more scientific. I also can save some inventory cost, because of precise plan, and I think it is also a way to improve the quality, because a better plan can make us well prepared before manufacture.
Jack: Let us use table to calculate. Please tell me your financial data of last year.
Tom told Jack the date.
Jack did the following analysis.
We estimate your sales can increase 1%, material cost can reduce 1%, labor cost can reduce 1% and overhead cost can reduce 1% because of better scheduling. You can get 144,000 benefit for one year.
Tom: I understand. I should think of buying scheduling software.
