Post-Improvement Data


Results of the process project were expected to be seen on the financial statements and mainly focused on excess costs. We expect our project to save Athens Printing Company a minimum of 2.2% of total shipping cost annually. During the project we estimated a savings of $420 just during a three week period. The project saves the company on average a cost of $23 dollars for each mistake in shipping.
Costs other than shipping costs were identified during the process improvement. Labor cost was also reduced through our process improvement project. Labor costs related to each mistake were estimated at 50 minutes per occurrence which led to increased hourly wages of employees. Each occurrence was estimated to create $6.67 dollars in labor costs. These calculations were generated by management observations and time logs associated with shipping. Labor costs have also been decreased by creating an easier process which can be delegated to
Benefits beyond costs were also created by process improvement. New organization of shelf labels has given management more control over planning, which has been a help in forecasting demand for book quantities. The increased control has also led to increased sales due to less out-of-stock situations. Decreased last minute printing is another benefit which management noticed. Less printing of uneconomically small lot sizes have been an indirect cause of increased profit. The last benefit was increased customer satisfaction. Though there is no way to measure satisfaction it could ultimately lead to increased profits.
The data which was used to calculate our improvement process was return authorizations. After implementation we saw a decrease in return authorizations due to receipt of the wrong item. This data suggested a good turn around in the area of returns, which management was mostly concerned with. Efficiency was also showed a 30-40% improvement, which was measured by shipping clerks, as well as management.
Through our process improvement we also created optimal inventory levels. Recognition of dead stock could be noticed and sale prices could be generated to off set these levels with use of inventory labels which indicated the level of optimal inventory. Seasonal demand and trends could be accounted for to show necessary production times. Sluggish sales can also be addressed in certain product lines, which could lead management to address the profitability of each individual book.
The cost to implement the process was a very minimal cost in comparison to what the company saved. The total cost ended up to be almost $40 dollars, which consisted of mostly supplies. The total cost compared to the savings was about 1.34%. This created a good situation for The Athens Printing Company where cash flow has been a problem. The cost was also very pleasing to the management because their resistant and severe change.


Click here to see the Overall Statistics!!!



End of Presentation!!!!!

On to Overall Paper




Back to What We Did!