Received the daily email from Nightengale-Conant with a quote of the day. Wow, does this one ring true:
“You seldom improve quality by cutting costs, but you can often cut costs by improving quality.”— Karl Albrecht: a German entrepreneur who founded the supermarket chain Aldi
I think we’ve all experienced this. We write a dozen articles a year about this at Automation World. And, yet, those MBAs floating around continue to believe this. Earlier they just about destroyed the American automobile industry, now they seem intent on doing the same to the airline industry.
To quote an early 60s folk song, “When will they ever learn? Oh, when will they ever learn?”
Amen! If you don't have processes in place to ensure quality products and services, it will cost you more every time. Even cost cutting efforts aimed at SG&A administrative costs need to focus on continuous improvement to make a real difference.