In procurement, primary needs (saleable finished commodity) are differentiated from secondary needs (components, pre-materials) and from tertiary needs (operating supplies and auxiliary materials). It is recommended to organize the procurement process according to this strict differentiation. For the procurement of needs for goods to be produced a deterministic approach is recommended, which uses the available …
Cost reduction in Production
The production of material goods, services and rights is the central, value-adding core process in many companies. One of the core goals of the entire organisation must therefore be to make this core production process as cost-effective, trouble-free and consistent as possible. To achieve this, supporting processes must be geared towards optimising the core process. …
Selection of manufacturing processes
Many manufacturing companies have traditional manufacturing processes that have been refined over time. A metal processing company manufactures by machining (turning, drilling, milling, grinding), non-machining (casting, stamping, bending) or joining (screwing, welding, riveting, gluing) or combinations thereof. A plastics processor may extrude, injection mould, turn, mill, drill or join, depending on the history and product …
Investments: Definition, necessity, examples
How do you approach investments in your company? Do you involve all relevant functions in investment decisions? How does the investment process work? What criteria flow into your investment decisions? What is an investment? An investment is the expenditure of financial resources in order to achieve a higher return on financial resources in the medium …
Manufacturing management: organising manufacturing
Is the control of production in your company in the hands of the sales team? Do impulses from sales flow directly and unfiltered into production planning, which then has to be implemented, usually without taking specific features into account? Then you have potential for optimization. Production management is a holistic management task that includes strategic, …
Optimization of the Manufacturing Process
Are your manufacturing processes well coordinated throughout the process? The individual process sub-steps must fit together. Each sub-step has an interface with a subsequent sub-step and one with the preceding sub-step. At these interfaces, you can recognize idle times, i.e. activities that have been carried out but are not taken up by any of the …
Lean management: Waste-free value creation processes
Lean management is a philosophy of holistic thinking and action aimed at designing and executing value creation processes with as little waste as possible. Waste includes not only excessive use of materials and energy, but also unused time, e.g. idle time, and avoidable (intermediate) transport. The Lean Management concept has been taken up by REFA …
Structure of the Sales Organization
If you can organize your sales force end-to-end and connect it seamlessly to the rest of the organization, you will have fulfilled a very important requirement for sales success. Otherwise, you will face major challenges in terms of interconnected collaboration. You may be able to attract some excellent account managers, but they might turn out …
Key Account Management: Definition & Meaning
Definition: What is Key Accout Management? Key accounts are strategically important customers for companies with great matching business potential. They are not necessarily the customers with whom a company currently generates the largest sales revenues, but customers or potential customers with whom a company can develop well in the future. Key account management is the …
Sales management: How to lead successfully
Sales must be managed. In addition to personnel management, this primarily means strategic and tactical sales management.