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Savings
Beyond PriceTM -Weekly E-Zine-
June 29, 2005
by
Robert T. Yokl, President and Chief Value Strategist
How To
Create An Automatic Supply Chain Savings Machine At Your
Healthcare Organization
 We
Are All Looking For Quick-Fix Solutions To Saving
Money. When Will We Learn That The Best Way To Save
Money Is The Old Fashioned Way – Having An Automatic
System To Do So!
I received a unsolicited phone
call last week from a Merrill Lynch stock broker who was
interested in selling me stock (big surprise). He
started off by asking me about my investments and what
system I was using to determine when to buy, when
to sell and when to hold onto my stocks. When I told him
I didn’t have a system he almost became apoplectic!
It thought to myself that getting “spitting mad”
at a potential customer was an unusual tactic for any
sales person, however, I must tell you that he did get
my attention.
He then said, “You mean that the way
you make decisions on your stock purchases is to use an
“Ouija board”?” Well, by this time I had
enough with this rude guy and hung up on him, but you
know what he did get his point across to me. In
anything that we do that is critical to our success,
like making money or saving money,
YOU GOTTA HAVE A SYSTEM
that is automatic, repeatable and mechanical! It
should leave nothing to chance, probability or error.
Characteristics Of An Automatic
Savings System
The characteristics of an automatic
savings system are centered around a philosophy that is
constant and unvarying; a set of
principles that are based on immutable laws and
best practices that are updated with the changing
times.
A good example of an automatic savings
system is VALUE ANALYSIS that has a 60 year
record of savings success in products, services
technologies and processes in every country in and every
industry world-wide.
Value analysis isn’t a flavor of the month,
fad or craze; it is a scientific
system for the systematic selection/evaluation of the
millions of dollars of purchases that your healthcare
organization buys annually.
The philosophy of value analysis is based
on the “concept of value”, which is constant and
unvarying. Its principles are grounded in immutable law
that cost/function = best value. Some of its
best practices are: functional analysis, customization
vs. standardization, life cycle cost analysis, pareto
analysis and VA/VE behavior mapping.
Now, because value analysis is a system
and not a trend or fad, it is teachable, measurable,
repeatable, and sustainable for as long as you are
willing to do the hard work to keep this supply
chain savings machine well-oiled.
You Gotta Have An
Automatic Savings System In The 21st Century
We are all looking for quick-fix
solutions to saving money.
My discussions with supply chain professionals around
the country on a daily basis confirm to me that this
statement is a truism. My question then to you
is, “when will supply chain
professionals learn that the best way to save money is
the old fashioned way – having an automatic
savings system to do so?”
I can make this bold statement because if
you are to be successful in the 21st century
in supply chain management, You gotta have an automatic
savings system to move your healthcare organization to
the next level of savings performance. The low
hanging fruit has been picked from your vineyard and
your supply chain savings’ strategies and tactics are
becoming worn, tattered and threadbare. They now need to
be replaced with a systems approach to supply
chain management called value analysis. This is
a powerful savings system, not just a generic name that
you have been labeling all the savings solutions
that you are employing now to save money.
MAILBOX
I hope to start a value analysis program this year, but
our hospital has so many other initiatives (customer
service, lean management, etc.) staring-up I don’t know
if the timing is right to do so. What do you think?
M.B.
I would
like to start out by saying that, “cost is our enemy,
and we need to be always on the attack”. Therefore,
cost savings initiatives should have the highest
priority (next to your patient care) at your hospital.
You should never be side tracked or derailed by
any initiative your hospital is working on or thinking
about.
Now
with this said, we must be practical and realistic about
when we start new initiatives that will be competing
with others initiatives for time, money and resources.
My suggestion would be to start your value analysis
program on a smaller scale, if you must, to get it off
the ground, but don’t wait until your turn comes to
start your new program, or it may never happen.
Delays are your enemy too!
If you
would like to consider my training programs in the mix,
please give me a call.
Bob
Yokl, Sr.
Chief Value Strategist
Strategic Value Analysis In
Healthcare
800-220-4274
bobpres@strategicvalueanalysis.com
P.S. If anyone
else has a burning question that you would like me to answer, please
call or e-mail me and I would be delighted to answer it.
 There
is Still “Gold in Them Thar Hills”
Utility Costs (telecom, gas,
electric, Oil and sewage) Are Still Too High At Most
Hospitals Today!
Literally Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars Are Being Wasted
In Utility Costs That Are Still Not Being Controlled By
Most Hospitals. Are You One of Them?
I
always thought that utility costs (telecom, gas,
electric, oil and sewage) were a “no brainer” to
control at any hospital because of the technologies that
are available today to do so. But to my surprise, with
few exceptions, we are still finding that most hospitals
have hundreds of thousands of dollars in utility savings
still available to them in the 21st century.
The question then is, may your hospital be one of
them?
To find
out if your hospital is in this category, all you need
to do is benchmark your utility costs with several
hospitals in your region to see what their cost for
utilities are per gross square foot. Once you
understand and confirm the benchmark metrics for your
hospital vs. other in your community, you will be in a
position to reduce your costs (if they are out of line)
by performing an internal utility audit or hiring
consultants to do it for you. It’s just that simple!
Discover
the Savings System That You Can Use Right Now to Become
An Expert in Value Analysis. Double, Triple (or More!)
Your Savings Results with This Insightful Savings Guide
It is clear to see in the
healthcare world that Value Analysis is here
to stay, yet there is no clear cut
"Complete HOW TO" system that you can rely
on in order to bring your organization to the next level
of supply chain savings. More and more organizations
are hiring full time staff totally dedicated to Value
Analysis to attack the "SAVINGS BEYOND PRICE" that is
the next level of major savings opportunities for
Healthcare Organizations.
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STRATEGIC
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