“It’s all a matter of efficiency!” is what they say. Pulling costs out of your organization or avoiding spending money might be easier said then done.
Just think about a drop of sales you might expect when drastically cutting your marketing budgets or the lack of services you might initiate when “attacking” your operations.
Unfortunately many companies active in the cost-cutting field suffer from the “copy/paste” syndrome. Believing that when it works for A it should also work for B is a far too simple expression. The true value of strong consultancy companies with strong demonstration of capability lies underneath.
Hereby the top 5 tips to reduce costs from Supply Chain Expert:
1. Start with a decent spend analysis on current and future expected costs but do not make this a microscopical exercise. Getting first high level indications is good enough at this stage.
2. Translate this information into your own business context by asking questions about “must have’s”, “nice to have’s”, preferred areas, potential customer impact and implementation ease.
3. Provide evidence of cost-reduction strength by focusing on a first important project. Trying to do everything at once classically generates failures.
4. Make sure to select the right cost reduction methodology (out of approx. 15 available) for the category or project “under fire”. You might want to combine some of them into one exercise.
5. Integrate the human and business culture aspect into your equation. It will allow a smoother change-management process and will increase positive interactions with vendors and internal customers.
The recent and ongoing crisis shifted people to think differently. Supply Chain Experts with focus on “here and now” do quite well!
Just make sure to fish in the right pool of Supply Chain experts but be careful for the business sharks. Unless you want to play a role in the next “Jaws” movie.
Supply chain consultants in Belgium, Clear Vantage, offers supply chain expert solutions, purchasing and procurement consulting solutions and trainings to secure best cost of ownership.
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