SQT Blog

I came across this short piece recently which, although written many, many years ago, somehow still seems very relevant to the times we are having.  So as the IMF / EU strategies and December budget cuts come into force, it might be worth remembering…

For money you can have everything, it is said.
No, that is not true.
You can buy food, but not appetite;
Medicine, but not health;
Soft beds, but not sleep;
Knowledge, but not intelligence;
Glitter, but not comfort;
Fun, but not pleasure;
Acquaintances, but not friendship;
Servants, but not faithfulness;
Grey hair, but not honour;
Quiet days, but not peace.
The shell of all things you can get for money, but not the kernel.
That cannot be had for money.
Anne Garborg (1851-1924)

However, as a company, if you do actually need to get your hands on more money and are looking at ways to achieve this, why not consider looking afresh at your business and internal processes using simple Lean Six Sigma tools and techniques – you will be amazed where savings (and therefore, real money) can be found.

77 companies tried this during 2010 and found an average savings of €90,000. If this sparks an interest, John or Eamon our six sigma heads would be very happy to have a chat with you. 2011 may just have a silver lining after all!!!

A network of privatised mobile speed enforcement cameras begins operating today.

A Road Collision Factbook produced this year by the Road Safety Authority shows that in single-vehicle crashes, speed was cited as the main factor in 54 per cent of cases. The new cameras will monitor areas identified as regular sites for speed-related traffic collisions.

Details of the camera locations are available on www.garda.ie

The Garda Siochana is intending that the cameras will be a road safety precaution rather than a revenue-gathering exercise. The provider is being paid a flat fee for the service. There is no provision for commissions or bonuses related to how many motorists are caught speeding.

Lets hope that this new initiative will make our roads a safer place.

The old adage that ‘If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it’, is so obvious and worthy of the Homer Simpson ‘Dah really’, that it is hard to believe that many of us don’t apply this basic principle or else we apply it incorrectly i.e., we measure the wrong things.

How many times have we heard our political masters pontificate on the ‘Millions of Euro we have invested in our Health Service?’  … that’s all fine and well but it doesn’t address the ‘So what’ of the investment – i.e., is it money well spent and for example have we seen an improvement in the following measurements?

• A substantial (versus the best European performance) reduction in the number of people on waiting lists, year on year
• A substantial (versus the best European performance) increase in the number of people successfully accessing our health services, year on year
• A substantial (versus the best European performance) reduction in the average time to successfully use our health services and also the variation around that average, again year on year

Accurate measurements and trustworthy data are the heartbeat of any successful improvement effort but instead of giving you the technical jargon how about the following commonsense …

This ditty is something I learned in my first job back in the mid-eighties from a wise old quality practitioner.

If you measure then you must record,

If you record then you must analyse,

If you analyse, then you must take action,

If you take action, you must follow-up to check for effectiveness,

If you follow-up, you must close-out!

It’s a bit like what Magnus Magnuson says – ‘I’ll start so I’ll finish’ – you have to close the loop otherwise it is just wasted time and resource.

A new article in this month’s Envirosolutions, claims that Organisations are failing to take advantage of the opportunities to save money through improved energy purchasing and efficiency. In the current rather challenging times, organisations should be looking at every avenue available to them to save cash.

The article states that a high level Energy Manager position can often pay for itself in as little as four to five months. The article is from Paul Baier, vice president of sustainability consulting at Groom Energy in the US and is worth a read.

He highlights the fact that…

“Opportunities to save money are everywhere. There are, consistently, opportunities to reduce overall energy spend by 5 to 15 percent through projects with a two to three year payback period. This is serious money for companies with large energy budgets. A typical project may improve energy purchasing practices or increase energy efficiency.

Generating savings need not require a capital investment – zero capital projects also exist. One US retailer, for example, saves $60,000 per year at each of its distribution warehouses by adjusting the temperature set points for its frozen and refrigerated warehouse to be cooler at night and warmer during the day, when electricity rates were 50 percent higher. This same retailer saves $15,000 annually by recharging its electrical forklifts at 6 pm instead of 3pm, as was previously the custom, in order to take advanage of reduced electricity rates.

Why aren’t other companies exploiting these kinds of opportunities? “

If your organisation is not currently taking advantage of the savings or doesn’t have the expertise to do so, it might be worth checking out our six day Certified Energy Manager course (awarded by the Association of Energy Engineers). Our next course commences on 08 February – it’s never too early to start planning! Further information is available here