MAXIMUM UTILIZATION OF A RESOURCE ATTRACTS In addition to cleanliness, orderliness, and systemization there are other organizational values that can evoke the miraculous. One is “maximum utilization” -- i.e. the desire to derive the most out of a given resource. Let’s face it; we live in a throwaway society. When a resource is depleted, we discard it -- looking for another to take its place. Moreover, when we use a resource, we are more concerned with the benefits it brings than whether or not we are using every last bit of it. For example, if I drive my car to an important appointment, I am more concerned about getting there than whether I have received the maximum mileage from the fuel. Gas may be expensive and precious, but arriving at that meeting is far more critical. And yet with a little effort, we can also learn to derive the maximum use from the resources we employ -- whether it is a machine, materials, or something else. Doing so will not only save us money and help maintain supplies, but will also trigger powerful life response results. To show you what I mean, I would like to share with you an entry from an associate of ours in charge of a manufacturing concern in India. “Low Carbon Ferro Manganese is one of the main raw materials we use in the manufacturing of welding electrodes. One day the manufacturer who supplies us with this material informed us that their plant was shutting down for maintenance, and as a result, there would no supplies of the resource coming for the next two months. Now this is an expensive material, so the stocks we kept on hand were held to a minimum. Also, there were only a few companies that manufactured this particular item. What’s more, the suppliers were all located in faraway places. In this dire situation, we had little time to arrange supply from other sources; and stocks on hand were now sufficient for only 5 days of production. In this difficult state, we made the decision that not a single particle of LCFM should be wasted. To that end, we alerted all the workers to be extra careful in its use. In addition, the shop floor was swept thoroughly because in our desperation even spilled material was collected, screened and used. Remarkably, two days later, from out of nowhere, the Managing Director of a company manufacturing LCFM in Orissa -- which is about 1300 kilometers away from our Pondicherry location -- visited our unit. Then over the phone, he instructed his plant to immediately dispatch all the needed material to us! There was more to the story, however. Where previously we were buying the material from a supplier on a cash basis, the new company now offered us 30 days credit. In addition, we no longer found it necessary to negotiate any pricing terms with them, since they now agreed to supply materials in the future at that same price. (This is significant because they knew of our precarious situation, and yet despite our weak position, they did not take undue advantage of us.) By the way, till this day we are continuing with this new supplier!” When you try to derive the maximum use from a resource, life responds with more of it – arriving in ways you would never have imagined. When the manager of the company made the decision to make the most of its current, scarce resource by using every bit available, life returned the favor with fresh new supplies at a time when conditions were dire. In addition, several other astonishing developments followed in its wake. In this way, each of us can examine the way we relate to the resources we use -- whether it is machines, materials, money, time, or people, -- and come up with strategies to maximize their use. When we implement that strategy, powerful positive conditions will quickly move in our direction.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 00:10:25 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015