Every field services executive I know told me last year they were dealing with brutal cuts and little time to accomplish it. I have often heard the saying ‘there are no shortcuts to long term structural change’ – but there is one proven solution that challenges that paradigm – it’s known as Variability Reduction (VR). VR quickly gets you fact based data so you can focus on where real and rapid cost reduction opportunities can be found, while also identifying customer service improvement opportunities.
How It Works
Have you ever looked at your metrics and wondered why one region’s parts cost more than the same parts in another region? Or why one region’s labor costs are higher per call? Every field services metric has variability in performance results depending on the geography, customer, product, and individual or department/region being measured. Variability reduction processes create a systematic way to capture data about performance, establishing a ‘mean’ around each metric, and then identifying the outliers for rapid action. What can we learn from the best performers, and the worst? Then applying the best practices of the leaders to the rest of the team, and fixing quickly what is really wrong in the worst performing units. VR processes are supported by Lean Six Sigma techniques and continuous improvement processes. Ultimately we want to move the ‘mean’ in a positive direction for every metric
Getting Started
RTM Consulting offers our Performance Improvements Through Variability Reduction course — exposing field services personnel to variability reduction processes. Using Lean Six Sigma techniques, this course can help jump-start your process improvement initiatives, help identify quick hit cost savings, and form the basis for identification and implementation of strategic operational improvements. Click on the course title for more details and stay tuned for my next post as we dive into more insights on Variability Reduction.