correctly.
The irony here is that as a result they hit the ball a long way and with great control.
So why doesn’t every golfer just do this? Good question.
The reason, I believe, is that no matter what the amateur does, they do get a result.
The ball moves closer to the hole – maybe not as close as it could be, or in as good a position, but a result non the less. And most amateurs are happy with this, which is precisely why they are amateurs!
What’s this got to do with spare parts inventory management?
Well, with spare parts inventory management and optimization the same thinking applies.
There is a process and there is a result. Some people follow the process and get great results, others try to short cut the process, they focus on the result and they do get something – just not what they could get.
What they lose is the opportunity to deliver a great result. Often they don’t even realize that they have under achieved because spare parts inventory management and optimization results are not as clear cut as they are on the golf course!
Regular readers will know that we have developed an approach to Spare parts inventory reduction that we call the Inventory Cash Release Process.
This process focuses on optimizing the inventory management of the items with the greatest investment, so that inventory levels can be safely reduced with due regard to criticality and risk. The process involves reviewing the 7 Actions for Inventory Reduction.
Sometimes people see our process and decide to focus on the result by taking shortcuts.
Rather than follow each of the steps they decide to apply just one of the actions.
When they do this they will almost always get a result and they believe that they have done the right thing. But they cannot get the best Spare parts inventory result because you can only achieve the full result by following the process, everything else is sub optimal.
It’s a bit like the difference between hitting the ball down the fairway and being happy that at least it went straight, and hitting the ball to the best possible position.
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Posted by: Phillip Slater