Why is Continuous Improvement a Profit Center?
The usual dilemma of managers when it comes to starting, deploying and performing continuous improvement initiatives is that while they probably think it is the right thing to do, the return of investments may not be real, or even foreseable. They are usually weary of potential risks involved, time wastage, or do not see immediate value in embarking on such initiatives at all. If it ever sounds familiar, the usual remarks might be that things are still running good for the organization – market demand is stable driving sales in the positive direction and there are little or not customer complains, and even if there were customer complaints, we are able to get over it quickly as we are a major supplier – so why is there a real need for improvement initiatives anyway? The most likely cause of such a dilemma, is because it is most commonly perceived as solely a cost-based activity. The truth is, it can be a profit center and it depends on how it is used, and whether we are willing to inve
