Home » Ineffective cost control and high overhead of manufacturing operations

In the conference room are meeting: Christian (CFO), Irene (IT Manager), Paul (Purchasing Manager), Peter (Production Manager), and Enrique (Engineering Manager) The Agenda title: Although it varies from company to company, you might want to examine the following: How do you plan for improving the margins on your products? Has the trend been toward better margins? What would you say the reasons for that are? How do you accommodate sudden, unforeseen market changes in your manufacturing and financial planning, without taking a loss? How do you respond to imminent shortages? Can you quickly issue purchase orders or manufacturing orders, and…

In the conference room are meeting: Christian (CFO), Irene (IT Manager), Paul (Purchasing Manager), Peter (Production Manager), and Enrique (Engineering Manager) The Agenda title: Although it varies from company to company, you might want to examine the following: How do you manage external resources? How cost-effective is that outsourcing process? Do you anticipate that outsourcing might play a larger role in the future? Are your vendors and suppliers working cost-effectively for you? How do you manage those relationships for best economy? Can you perform what-if costing scenarios to help you in your decision-making? What planning tools do you use today?…

In the conference room are meeting: Christian (CFO), Irene (IT Manager), Paul (Purchasing Manager), Peter (Production Manager), and Enrique (Engineering Manager) The Agenda title: Although it varies from company to company, you might want to examine the following: How do you track and implement engineering changes? Do you have a way to model the cost impact of such changes? Historically, what has the result of changes to products and processes been on overhead and financial performance of manufacturing? How quickly are manufacturing orders for your primary products moved through production to delivery? Do you know how this compares to your…

In the conference room are meeting: Christian (CFO), Irene (IT Manager), Paul (Purchasing Manager), Peter (Production Manager), and Enrique (Engineering Manager) The Agenda title: Although it varies from company to company, you might want to examine the following: How do you ensure that production in progress is in line with planning and expectations, and does not result in cost overruns? Has it happened that you ran into cost-growing tendencies? How were you able to change direction in those instances? Were you satisfied with the speed and impact of that aspect of cost management? How do you manage material requirements so…

In the conference room are meeting: Christian (CFO), Irene (IT Manager), Paul (Purchasing Manager), Peter (Production Manager), and Enrique (Engineering Manager) The Agenda title: Although it varies from company to company, you might want to examine the following: How do you discover and manage cost variances? How do you record cost histories? Are they available for your review? How do you assess your materials usage? How do you assess the cost of customized products or rare items? Is it an expensive proposition to provide customized products? Do you make products for stock, or in response to sales orders? How do…