Tag: <span>cost-saving</span>

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Outsourcing is a business practice used by individuals or companies in which a third party is hired to perform activities traditionally handled by internal staff and resources (Handfield). Many companies outsource to save overhead and labor costs, improve efficiency/productivity, and, in some cases, avoid government regulations or mandates. Outsourcing did not become a formally identified business strategy until the early 1990s. During this time companies began to focus more on cost-saving measures to increase revenue. Traditionally, cost reductions were the primary drive for outsourcing initiatives; however, today, outsourcing allows companies access to world-class capabilities, improved company focus, specific expertise, and risk sharing with partners (Narayanan).

Many economists believe that outsourcing is a good business strategy that allows companies to deal with globalization – market competition between price and profit. It is one of the underlying factors that affect whether a company thrives or goes out of business. However, outsourcing does not provide a competitive advantage as it cannot be patented or prevent others from adapting to it (Mourdaoukoutas). For instance, if a clothing company like GAP decides to outsource their clothing manufacturing for a competitive advantage, other competitors like Old Navy, American Apparel, and J. Crew will do the same. Today, many of the world’s largest companies use this strategy. Companies like Nike outsource all its shoes, clothing, and sporting equipment while Apple outsource their hardware manufacturing (Pearlstein).

Outsourcing has been a controversial topic because of the growing number of people that believe it is unintentionally creating long term unemployment in the United States, although according to Pearlstein studies have been conducted since the 1990s to prove that global outsourcing has led to more job creations in the United States. Because of the shift of job overseas, the U.S. has created more domestic jobs than were lost, even though the jobs may not have been in the same sectors. These findings, which focused more on multinational corporations, are consistent with the economic theory which states that trade and specialization increase productivity for all parties involved while also boosting economic growth. However, in the last decade, data from the Commerce Department has shown that US multinational corporations have been cutting 2.9 million jobs in the US while adding 2.4 million jobs overseas (Pearlstein). Pearlstein believes that the size of the company partly affects this. Large Companies like Apple that focus on export markets for growth are still able to create new jobs in the US for engineering, design, marketing, and finance. However, small and medium companies that solely focus on the US market are outsourcing US labor for foreign labor in order to save money and remain competitive in the market. In some cases, outsourcing has a negative impact on US companies. For example, US companies found it cheaper to outsource the production of radios and televisions in Japan. However, Japan realized how to redesign and produce their own brands of the same product. After learning this technique, Japan took over the global industry (Pearlstein).

Outsourcing affects multinational corporations in different sectors. The service-sector for instance continues to expand employment overseas and abroad while the manufacturing sector has practically moved all production abroad. Many companies are currently pressuring suppliers to move jobs such as IT services, software programming, and call centers closer to home. This would help increase US employment in these sectors (Pearlstein).

Although outsourcing has decreased the number of US jobs it has helped to raise profits for many investors and shareholders of companies. Consumers are also benefiting from this because cheap labor and manufacturing allow goods to be purchased at a lower price. These savings allow for the creation of jobs in other sectors and companies. In the recent election, Donald Trump promised to bring jobs back to America by proposing tariffs on imports from other countries. Although this could be beneficial to US employment, the cost of goods would rise significantly. Imposing such laws could potentially close many small US businesses who could not afford to pay US employees proper wages. Another concern with outsourcing would be employee loyalty. If employees know their jobs will eventually be given to third party partners many of them would be less inclined to stay. Losing certain jobs in the US will also have long-term consequences. As mentioned before with the outsourcing to Japan, if certain jobs are only employable through outsourcing that craft will be lost to the US. Finally, outsourcing relies on a respectable relationship between two countries. If either countries relations suffer the international market would suffer as well.

Handfield, Rob. “A Brief History of Outsourcing.” A Brief History of Outsourcing – SCM | Supply Chain Resource Cooperative (SCRC) | North Carolina State University. (SCRC) Supply Chain Resource Cooperative | Poole College of Management | NC State University, 1 June 2006. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

Mourdoukoutas, Panos. “The Unintended Consequences of Outsourcing.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 23 Dec. 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

Narayanan, Loral. “Brief History of Outsourcing.” Credit Today Newsletter. N.p., 06 Jan. 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

Pearlstein, Steven. “Outsourcing: What’s the True Impact? Counting Jobs Is Only Part of the Answer.” The Washington Post. WP Company, 01 July 2012. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

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Source by Kenneth Hernandez

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There are many truck parts that a truck owner needs to ensure are in good condition at all times and a mechanical suspension is one of those. It’s always advisable to invest in the best truck parts for your fleet. Quality leads to longevity and that leads to long run cost savings. When it comes to the Max Titan O.U. Mechanical Suspension, it is clear to see why it is at the forefront of quality truck parts.

Here are the benefits of the Max Titan O.U. Mechanical Suspension for trucks and trailers.

• This truck part has an increased strength of up to 20% when compared to normal mechanical suspensions. This makes it more durable and reliable.
• It is up to 15% lighter in weight than its normal counterpart, so it doesn’t add much extra weight to the vehicle.
• It has one type of hanger for both the front link and the rear link so it eliminates the confusion between the over-slung and underslung hangers.
• On the tri-axle and rear link the chassis height is reduced by 70 millimetres. This has a huge knock-on effect and other benefits for the truck owner.
• It reduces the weight of the trailer which has a huge cost saving impact.
• Less material is used in the making of the Max Titan O.U. Mechanical Suspension, which means that there are less manufacturing costs. The benefit of this is further cost savings.
• For the end user, it has an extra payload per trip advantage of up to half a ton. This is beneficial to both the end user and the truck owner.
• Keeping stock becomes easier to manage as you only need to stock one type of hanger as opposed to always having to stock F Hangers and J Hangers.

The Max Titan O.U. Mechanical Suspension is a technological advancement for truck and trailer parts due to its unique design and capabilities. This design includes one type of hanger that can be used in both over-slung and underslung trailer applications, which is unheard of in the trucking community. Furthermore, it is made of a high tensile alloy that is lightweight and adds minimal weight to the vehicle. These benefits lead to overall better truck handling, fleet management, stock control as well as added cost savings in both the short and the long run. These cost savings extend to the trucking company’s end user also. It is a formidable and powerful truck part that is making waves in the industry.

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Source by Zaid Majam

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Legal Outsourcing has been there for quite some time now and is here to stay till the time law firms and the legal department of corporate companies are willing to stay competitive. In today’s economy and competition minimizing costs, improvising processes, deliverability, customer service, accountability and so on are some of the key areas to concentrate in order to stay competitive.

As the saying goes “A dollar saved is two dollars earned”; legal outsourcing today is one of the primary drivers in increasing profits for law firms and corporations. Cost saving is certainly a part of the benefit and is the primary driver for OUTSOURCING when you consider the infrastructural costs, HR costs, costs on employee benefits and several related costs. By outsourcing to GRACIOUS you save more than 50% of the operational costs, with no compromise on quality what so ever. However; contrary to the understanding of some entities and the commonly advertised term “Cost Savings”, it is not THE ONLY benefit. As an example let’s consider resource availability for once. There is a considerable amount of time and money spent on hiring a suitable candidate with acceptable experience levels, and once hired it takes another toll on time and money for training the resource and getting him/her to speed. By signing up with GRACIOUS, what you get is a trained paralegal who is ready to take on the assignments from the very first day of operations.

At GRACIOUS LEGAL SERVICES; we constantly enable law firms to maximize profits, by handling almost every task, right from the initial stages in the case to settlement or trial. With our support; depending on your interest you can market your services nationally, open up new offices and include other practice areas. As you know that your team at GRACIOUS is well equipped with the expertise required to handle your backend activities, while you go out there settling your cases, managing the administration and marketing your practice.

GRACIOUS is based out of California with delivery centers in India. Founded with the right spirit and leveraging high quality and efficient workforce, we offer comprehensive Legal outsourcing services to law firms and global corporations.

The value that is being delivered to our clients 24/7/365 is through our strategic approach, operational excellence, functional and industry knowledge, responsiveness and effective management.

Check out our website: https://www.graciouslegal.com/

For more details, please call us on our Toll-free number +1 888 787 0092 or you can email us on info@graciousservices.com

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Source by Kavya Naidu

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Previously we discussed “what to do” to enhance your facility’s energy use performance. Now let’s talk about the “how-tos” for performance improvement.

By lowering the need for energy in your energy consuming equipment and systems, you reduce the amount of energy your building requires to operate.

Replacing energy inefficient equipment with equipment designed and aligned to your specific operational parameters assures you are operating in the most cost efficient and effective manner.

Upgrading the devices that control building operations insures that equipment and systems perform better and only when necessary. For example….

One low cost control upgrade is the installation of lighting system occupancy sensors. Placing sensors in conference rooms, storage spaces, lunchroom/break room areas and public facilities insure the lights are turned off when space is not being used. By making the control of lighting an automatic action, you eliminate the need to “remember to turn off the lights” when exiting a space and you guarantee the reduction of energy use.

A second cost effective solution involves the installation of Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) on fan and pumping systems. The proper installation of VFDs can dramatically lower energy use. With the addition of government sponsored energy project incentives and rebates, your cost to upgrade is lowered even further. An Energy Savings Opportunities Audit (ESOA) can quickly and easily determine if VFD technology is a “right fit” solution for lowering overall energy use and operational costs in your building.

Beyond the solid financial benefits gained by lowering energy use and improving building operations, taking this step forward provides the opportunity to re-engage the facilities and operations team towards continuing improvement. As we all know, great ideas for operational excellence come from the men and women who are committed to improvement.

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Source by Gwendolyn Morrison

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Times are tough for builders and remodelers right now, so preventing expensive damage to carpets, doors, floors and other interior finishes is critical in lowering building costs and reducing completion times. Construction managers can choose from two types of surface protection products; a) disposable protection such as films and papers which can only be used once; or b) reusable protection made from reinforced plastic or cotton textiles. So what should a contractor choose?

Paper products such as rosin paper, Kraft papers and corrugated cardboard can be used for extremely short periods of time on surfaces such as floors and counter tops but are not recommended for longer use. Although these disposable protection products are inexpensive and widely available, they lose effectiveness when applied long-term. When the cost of installation is considered, including taping the seams together and product upkeep due to water penetration or tearing from foot traffic, these paper products are not recommended beyond a day or two of use.

For some short term applications, inexpensive, disposable films are the most economical choice. Low cost, easy-to-install carpet film works most effectively to protect carpets for up to 45 days. The rolls are reverse wound for easy installation and can protect carpets for up to 45 days. Films are also the best choice for vertical protection of stainless steel elevator doors and some plumbing fixtures. When films do not provide enough protection, thicker, disposable adhesive products are necessary. Protecta-foam is thick, disposable, adhesive foam that is easy to install and remove, and can save builders thousands of dollars in costly repairs. It protects cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, counter tops and other vulnerable surfaces.

Wood floors and stairs are two surfaces where thick, long lasting protection makes the most financial sense. The high cost of wood materials and installation coupled with the costs of repairs make them worth the added cost of long lasting protection. While construction managers may be tempted to choose less expensive, disposable protection, the cost savings may not add up when comparing the superior effectiveness of reusable products to protect expensive flooring. They are typically thicker and more durable and have the added convenience of being on hand when needed for a new job.

There are several products on the market to protect wood floors with thicknesses from 30 to 50 mm thick. Clean and Safe™ is a reusable floor protection made from recycled materials. Its skid resistant backing holds it in place on wood floors. For wood stairs, Multi-purpose runner makes sense as it has an adhesive bottom to hold the protection in place and is guaranteed not to leave a sticky residue upon removal. Both these products are available from several distributors throuought the U.S.

A few products on the market combine the low cost of disposable protection with the advantages of thicker, reusable protection. Compressed cardboard door protection such as DoorGuard™, edge protectors and window sill protection are inexpensive and can be reused many times. These products are made from recycled cardboard and can be recycled themselves, making them a great choice for the green building industry.

Recently introduced surface protection products to the market include fire resistant, heavy duty, plastic floor protection such as Coverguard®. With a large portion of the commercial building industry focused on hospital construction, an increased need for fire resistant products was necessary. Bainbridge, the manufacturer of Coverguard® saw the opportunity for their boat deck production in the construction industry and now sells it’s flooring protection through local distributors. Fire resistant plastic sheeting used for dust control is also necessary on hospital remodels. Although fire resistant products are safer on all construction sites, the products are substantially more expensive and thus not cost effective unless absolutely necessary.

How does a construction manager know which products are the most cost effective? The best advice is to contact a local surface protection expert to discuss your particular project including how long the protection will be required and how many workers will be on site. Product specialists work closely with construction managers and remodelers to help them choose products with the best value.

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Source by Patricia Mullen

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Do you want to know 50 great profit building ideas that you can put to immediate use in your business to increase profits and reduce costs?

If yes, read all these ideas that have been implemented by clients and have benefited them giving their businesses dramatic boost in profitability. Most ideas can be put to action immediately. Each idea has the potential to give you many %points increase in net profits.

Research shows profits increase by 4%-56% and costs reduce by 18%-37% within 2 years using the simple 5 step process called the Profit Maps Model. Usually a 5% reduction in cost is adequate to turnaround most loss making businesses.

Businesses can calculate the value of the savings by these 2 simple formulas

If the business made a loss

Total Costs and Expenses = sales + absolute value of net loss +/- income tax = say X

Minimum Savings you will make in 2 years = 5% of X (which was calculated above)

If the business made a profit

Total Costs and Expenses = sales + net profit +/- income tax = say Y

Minimum Savings you will make in 2 years = 5% of Y (which was calculated above)

So how much can you save? Improve your profits by?

Revenue

This category typically contains inflows of resources into the business generated through operations.

Needless to say the profit building process can be used to generate marketing and sales ideas. The following ideas were generated with the objective of increasing revenue with little or no impact on the cost structure.

Revenue Increasing Ideas

1. If your company has facilities located over a multi-geographical area you may be able to rent antenna space to cellular phone companies. Typically these companies will pay for the use of rooftops as a place to erect their antennas. Another option is for billboards as advertising if you occupy a central location with a high visibility building. This enhances your revenue without any additional cost you. The point here is to explore alternative uses for your facilities. Remember they are assets that can be used 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are numerous opportunities available for increased revenue if you look for them. Training room and function room facilities can be rented out in the evening or weekends. How about spare land or excess slots you own for public car parking?

2. Determine whether your business can market commission and non-commissioned products as add-on sales. Look for opportunities to sell products to your existing customer base at no additional cost. Examples are catalogue sales to airline passengers and the sale of miscellaneous products to credit card customers. You may have the opportunity to do something similar. Your customers have more value than you realise.

3. Is there any additional value in your customer database? Perhaps your business could generate additional revenue by selling the data. Alternatively consider starting a telemarketing department to market another line of products or services. Depending on your business and the nature of your customer base you may have something great here.

4. Explore the advantages of an effective e-strategy including e-commerce, e-business, e- people and e-technology. There is no question that the new opportunities available through the Internet offer new and innovative ways to increase profits and reduce costs. Consult with an expert in this area including a cross-section of your employees and magic will happen.

5. Segment your customers into heavy user and light user categories and determine the difference between these two groups. What needs to be done to generate another sale from both categories? All customers are critical. What can you learn about the different types of customers to determine whether more selling occasions possible? Make the most of these customers; you already have them.

6. Develop retention strategies as well as growth strategies. In today’s markets, it is as important to hold on to your existing customer base as it to grow your business. It took you a certain amount of resources to attract your customers: you may want to explore ways to retain a high percentage. What is your cost to acquire a customer? What is your cost to retain a customer? Do your employees know?

7. Continue to look for augmented products and/or services that would add value without adding expense.

8. Explore opportunities to licence or franchise your business products or services for additional market share or penetration

9. Explore merger and acquisition scenarios where efficiencies would be gained for all businesses concerned.

10. Develop a relationship with a long-distance carrier whereby your company will distribute phone cards to your customer base in return for a fee or residual commission.

Salaries

This category typically contains charges associated with

· Management Pay

· Non-management Pay

· Hourly Wages

· Training Labour

· Overtime Pay

· All Other Pay, Wages and Salary items

Cost Saving Ideas

11. Establish a 45 to 60 hour per week work environment among the managers. Cost structures among your competitors are basically similar to your cost structure so you will obtain an advantage because your managers are working more hours. This assumes that your managers are productive. Managers who have responsibility for a workforce of hourly employees are usually at the facility, a retail outlet, restaurant or office at least this amount of time. Sometimes business volume is extremely low at early or closing hours. During the slow hours managers can save substantially by scheduling fewer employees and filling it themselves. In addition to the Labour savings, managers will become more knowledgeable about operations and will find ways to improve customer service, training and operations. I have put this procedure in place in several places. At the beginning there will always be resistance, but once managers get beyond the initial hump things will run smoothly. I also find that certain incentive programmes work well here. Get the manager’s incentives based on Labour dollar saved and they come to understand the process.

12. Effectively manage your salary administration programs. Many companies pay lip service to this principle but failed to obtain true levels of success in salary administration and management. To start, make sure you have a salary range for every position in the company. Salaries should be structured so that the midpoint is 100, the minimum is 80% and the maximum is 120%. The basic philosophy is that the candidate should be hired into a position between the minimum and the midpoint on the basis of his or her level of experience. The employees are then moved higher in the range on the basis of performance. This philosophy is based on the premise that mid-point is the amount the position is worth to the company. Employees can obtain an additional 20% through stellar performance. Few employees should be paid over the 120% range. Each job is worth a specific amount to the organisation. If a new hire needs training to become efficient in a particular job, that employee is working at a level below the worth of the position and therefore should be paid at the minimum salary range. When the employee’s performance rises at successful completion of training and can perform 100% of the job duties move the employee quickly toward the midpoint of the salary range.

13. Insist that a salary survey be done every year to ensure that you have achieved the desired community position relative to your competition. In this case the competition is those companies that would recruit your employees. You need to make sure that if you survey 10 competitors; you have a salary range higher than 75% of these companies for your key positions and higher than 50% of these companies for lower-level positions. Implementing this strategy will help you reduce turnover and will also ensure that you are not overpaying for positions.

14. Make sure your salary administration program allows for regular salary review. Typically, this is done once a year for salaried employees and every six months for hourly employees. The review should include a performance appraisal form and the employee’s performance levels should correspond with established pay increases. In other words, establish the pay for your performance review system.

15. Establish a bell curve of salary increases. Let’s say that approximately 8% of your employees are superior performers, 12% are above average, 60% are average, 12% are fair, and 8% are poor. Create a salary increase guideline that mirrors this curve, with the better performing employees receiving higher increases. For example superior employees are given 6% to 7%, above average employees 4% to 5%, average employees 3%, fair employees 2%, and poor employees 0%. This allows the organisation to check and reward performance whilst still meeting its salary increase budget. Obviously, your goal is to continue to train and develop your workforce. Occasionally, low performing employees have to be replaced with those most suited to the position. The Bell curve is just a process to ensure that star performers are recognised and rewarded for their work.

16. Establish the salary increase guideline budget and stick to it. Plan salary increases for the coming year by using the Bell curve mentioned in the above idea. Department managers should budget salary increases for employees assuming that the next year’s performance will be at the same level as this year’s. Please be aware that some performance ratings will change. There will always be exceptions. This process will help ensure that your organisation will remain within the new salary increase budget.

17. The salary increase guideline budget should be preapproved. When a different rating is submitted during the year, treat it as an exception and make sure to justify it because performances can change- it may go up or down. A strict salary administration program will ensure that budgets are achieved.

18. Establish a training rate for all appropriate positions. This is crucial when your organisation experiences higher levels of turnover during the first and second months of employment. The training rate is lower than the standard pay rate and is applicable only during the training period. Employees are given a raise once the training has been completed satisfactorily. Determine whether the training rate could be established for other positions in the organisation.

19. Where the training rate is not appropriate, establish a probationary rate for the standard 90 day period. This rate is lower than the standard pay rate and is applicable only during the first 90 days of employment. If performance is satisfactory, the employee will receive a raise to the standard pay rate. Determine whether a probationary rate could be established for all positions in the organisation.

20. Develop a labour-management system whereby a computer predicts daily or hourly volume and the amount of labour needs on the basis of seasonality. Most businesses have a trend cycle that can be measured with 15 minute increments. First, you must find a way to get past the notion that your business cannot be tracked this way. There is a pattern to your business. Discovering your business pattern is the first step toward determining how to manage your Labour cost. Management will give you many reasons why the business cannot be tracked. Once you work through all their concerns, you and your team can identify those trend items, aspects of your customer behaviour that, in fact, can be tracked and schedule Labour accordingly.

21. Determine whether your new hires would qualify for the targeted job tax credit program whereby a percentage of training dollars is refunded by the government.

22. Determine whether your organisation would qualify for tax benefits for providing employee childcare services.

23. If your employees handle cash transactions, install software driven cash reconciliation process to save time at shift changes and at closing. This will also reduce cash shortages. This type of procedure also saves time in the cash out process.

24. Constantly look for software modifications that can reduce labour. Seconds saved could also mean dollars earned. Using technology is a natural approach to the whole effort of productivity improvement. If your business has not recently explored this area, effective tools that currently exist may surprise you.

25. Have an industrial engineer evaluate your business in terms of time and motion studies to determine whether additional efficiencies can be achieved in areas where high throughput is important. This approach can still work today. Some managers run their businesses the same way they did 10 or 20 years ago. Time and motion studies can have an impact on cost savings, productivity, customer service, and employee morale.

26. Establish a self-regulating team with the specific responsibility of improving productivity and reducing costs in a particular department or area of the organisation.

27. Develop an incentive to reduce absenteeism. This incentive should be linked to productivity improvement goals and to the availability of the workforce. It should be based on reducing absenteeism from previous period. The incentives could be a vacation bonus based on a 1% reduction in absenteeism

28. Develop a variable pay program whereby management salaries are reduced 5% to 10% across the board and these dollars are set aside into a bonus pool. When there is goal achievement, managers have the potential to earn even higher levels of compensation. However, these dollars will be at risk if managers do not achieve profit objectives. The potential to earn even higher levels of compensation will help sell this item.

29. Controlling your staff turnover is another way to reduce operating costs. Implementing strategies throughout the entire human resources cycle to ensure that all systems, procedures, policies, and practices are tight preventing employees from falling through the cracks. I refer to this as the human resources closed loop. If you think about it you will see that there is a cycle to the human resources process. It starts with recruitment, interviewing, selection and placement and continues to orientation, training, salary administration, performance appraisal, development, promotion, and finally termination. Then the cycle begins again. Make sure that all of the areas mentioned are employee friendly and are designed to retain employees. Identify any areas where improvements would reduce the number of employees leaving.

30. In order to determine where are to place additional controls, measure your labour costs in terms of cost per unit, cost per test, cost per guest check, etc. Breaking your labour costs down to the lowest unit will help you better identify cost saving ideas. It will also make it easier to affect and control.

Other Personnel Costs

This category would typically contains charges associated with

· Applied Payroll Burden

· Superannuation Employers Portion

· Vacation

· Paid Holidays

· Sick Leave

· Bonuses

· Short/Long term disability

· Group medical

Cost Saving Ideas

31. Make sure your company has a program that offers all full-time employees the opportunity to receive a higher salary in lieu of accepting certain benefits (such as medical, dental and life-insurance). Today many employees are being carried on a spouse’s plan. Why not let these employees choose a higher salary instead of benefits? As long as salary increases less than the cost of benefits, the company will save money and employees will increase their income.

32. Evaluate the cost of your superannuation administration. There are competitive programs that can reduce administrative costs. A simple evaluation of three different companies will determine whether you have an opportunity to realise savings. Even if you do not want to change the current superannuation administration you may still be able to negotiate better terms by showing your evaluation.

33. Reduce workers compensation insurance by aggressively reducing accidents. Evaluate your workers compensation actual to determine your claims history. Most companies set an actual rate and never re-evaluate them even though their experiences change. Depending on your business you may be surprised at the potential savings here.

34. Using the Internet conduct benefit surveys to comply your cost with those of similar organisations.

35. Challenge third-party providers to reduce administration costs by using the Profit Maps Model and passing those savings along to you.

36. Continue to monitor workers compensation costs and develop action plans to reduce them.

37. Develop a back to work programme that puts injured employees in alternative positions. There are times when injured employees want to remain active in the organisation and appropriate positions are available.

38. Negotiate settlements when long-term workers compensation situations dictate.

39. Eliminate alcohol at all company sponsored activities. This approach can prevent accidents, cut beverage costs at functions and reduce risks.

Communications

This category typically contains charges associated with

· Long-Distance Telephone

· Cellular Phone

· Pagers

· Data lines

· Fax lines

Cost Saving Ideas

40. Authorise a telecommunications consultant to analyse all your communication costs in terms of rates charged, equipment used, and programmes offered, promotions available, usage, cellular phone options, long-distance carrier performance and pricing, fax and security line combinations, past bills, and so on. Structure the contract so that the consultant bills on the basis of percentage of cost saved or refunds received. In this way, there will be no cost to you if the consultant is not successful in improving your bottom line. Review all areas of communication to ferret out these pockets of expense that often go unnoticed. Pagers and cell phones are usually ordered and distributed without the benefit of an organised plan. There are real and meaningful discounts if you shop around.

41. Continue to renegotiate rates and terms with the vendors who provide services. Set up an ongoing procedure for constantly renegotiating rates and terms.

42. Monitor and control your communications cost on the basis of the cost per unit test (guests check, or that like) in order to determine locations for exerting any additional control.

Utilities

In this category typically charges associated are

· Gas and Electricity Usage

· Water

Cost Saving Ideas

43. Authorise a utility consultant to analyse your utility costs. Such consultants would know how to deal effectively with the local public service companies in order to discover advantages or missed opportunities associated with gas and electric services. They should be fully authorised to check existing equipment and records. They should be experienced in developing an index and analyses and creating demand graphs to spot situations where you may have been overcharged. They would also represent your issues to the public utility commission.

44. Pay your consultant on the basis of a percentage of the savings associated with his or her action steps. The typical rate is 25% to 30% of the demonstrated savings and refunds over a specific period of time. There should be no charge if savings are not demonstrated.

45. Take energy conservation action steps including setting thermostats at 72°F. Automatic controls should be put in place to control temperature during off hours.

46. Turn off lights in conference rooms, restrooms and officers when they are not in use.

47. Turn off all lights not related to security at the close of business.

Professional fees

This category typically includes charges associated with professional services such as

· Legal and Human Resources Related Fees

· Proposals (domestic and international)

· Fees for Technical Services

· Other professional fees

Cost saving ideas

48. Talk about fees. If your lawyer does not bring up the subject of fees, you should. Do not be shy. In business, lawyers are free to set their own fees. The best time to discuss is at the beginning of a new legal matter.

49. Try to settle cases rather than litigate.

50. Have lawyers design standard forms you can use in routine transactions.

Conclusion

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Source by Skanda Kumarasingam

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For those who are looking to save some money in the new year, it may be beneficial to research some ways to reduce the costs of car insurance premiums. There are a variety of ways to pay less money each month. The following are some ideas to consider implementing in order to reduce monthly spending:

Liability Coverage on Older Vehicles

For anyone who has older vehicles, carrying only liability insurance is one way to reduce premiums. This is especially helpful for those who have older vehicles in addition to their vehicles used for primary transportation. Removing the collision and comprehensive pay can be a good way to reduce spending, particularly if the value of the vehicle is low. It could be that the cost of insuring the vehicle is higher than the replacement value.

One main consideration with this idea is whether or not there are payments due on the car. For anyone who is still financing, the agency may not allow a drop in coverage until it is paid in full. Also, if there is no way to replace the vehicle in the event of a crash, full coverage may be needed until funds are in place to do so.

Inquire About Safe Driver Discounts

Many agencies will offer discounts to those who have a clean driving record. These discounts are typically provided to those who have no tickets or accidents on their driving record in a specified timeframe. In addition, drivers should not have made any claims for comprehensive repairs, such as broken windshields.

Ask About Discounts for Good Grades

For those with children of driving age, a good report card can prove to be beneficial with regard to insurance costs. Discounts are often provided to kids who maintain a certain grade point average. The amount of the discount will vary from agency to agency. Also, the insurance agent will likely ask for proof of grade point average from time to time, so be prepared to provide that information on a regular basis.

Do Not Drive As Often

For those who are at a point in which they are not driving as often as they used to, agencies may provide a discount for doing so. If driving less is not an option, there still may be options to attain this discount. This can be done through carpooling or traveling using public transportation. This not only accomplishes the goal of spending less, but it will also save money in fuel costs, maintenance, and repairs on a vehicle. For those interested in this type of discount, the agency may require a device to be placed in the car to track mileage. Alternatively, the insurer may request a manual report of mileage on a regular basis.

Saving money is often a priority for many families, and saving on insurance premiums is an ideal place to start. Check with different insurers to see if additional discounts are offered that are different from the current agencies. It may be worthwhile to change providers to take advantage of these cost-saving measures.

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Source by Andrew Stratton

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LED lighting, which stands for Light Emitting Diode, has become the top choice for homes, businesses, organizations and governments that want to be eco-friendly and also save some serious cash.

These lights have become recognized for their excellent efficiency, extraordinary visual advantages, durability and their longer lasting light. LED’s have long been used in things like flashlights, circuit boards and other electronics, but only in recent years have they become much more widespread and used in just about every facet of life and business, replacing other types of lights in so many areas.

Many airports now choose LED lights for their runway and terminal lights. Due to their brighter light in a smaller form factor, there are great advantages to using these handy lights in airports around the world.

For example, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), replaced their old metal halide lighting systems with LED lighting. This swap has led to vastly reduced energy consumption, which in turn saves significant money in their budget, especially over the long run. Some estimates put an energy savings of about 75% on these swap outs. Not only do they save money, but the lights are also much more durable, thereby requiring less maintenance and less need for replacement. Another advantage is the lights are brighter and more programmable.

Hotels in Las Vegas, well known for their extravagant light displays, have also made the switch to LED lighting. In fact, one famous hotel and casino recently replaced their old metal halide lighting displays with LED lighting displays and their energy costs were dramatically cut by over 80%. This results in incredible cost savings for the hotel over the long run, helping profits and allowing investment back into other aspects of the hotel.

Another example is a chain of shoe stores in the Northeast US. This store replaced their old fluorescent lighting systems in all of their stores and replaced them with LED lighting systems. This helped save a ton of money for the stores since it cut down drastically on the need for replacements. It also allowed store employees to more easily adjust the lighting from warmer to cooler tones as needed for displays and overhead lighting.

Since LED’s can last for up to 15 years, there is a huge advantage to replacing old lights with LED’s. In some instances, LED’s can be a little more expensive in upfront costs than other types of lights, but with how long they last, these small initial costs are easily made up and far exceeded.

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Source by Lydia Quinn

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Sliding doors are unique devices that a lot of people love having in their houses, but you might not realise how efficient and cheap they are to use. If you are planning on making any changes to the doors in your house, you might want to consider ones that are easier to maintain over the years.

Here are the benefits of using sliding doors.

1. It takes up little space.

A sliding door can be installed as a front door, deck door, or side door. They simply slide into a slot that was cut into the wall. It does not open into a place that takes up more room as normal doors do so you don’t struggle around the door when trying to get in or out. Sliding doors save space and are ideal for high foot traffic areas. Plus if you have any tables or décor around that area, it won’t obstruct the doorway. You might have thought of getting a door of a different size, but it makes more sense to install a sliding door that does not swing out at all.

2. It is ideal for patio and deck areas.

Install a sliding door by the deck so that you have the easiest way to enter and leave the house from the back yard. You might have a lot of gatherings where people are streaming in and out of your home and this type of door makes it more convenient when having parties or gatherings in your back yard.

3. Less mess and less fuss to install.

A standard door needs the wall to be broken to the size specified whereas a sliding door can be installed along the wall via a slot to replace the current door that used to swing open. It is much simpler to install the sliding door and there is less of a mess.

4. It locks securely.

These kinds of doors usually have two lock functions. One on the handle that locks the door shut as well as a pin at the top of the door to securely lock it. The sliding door has a simple yet effective locking system and it closes much tighter than a normal door. This lock system is also very neat and tidy which does not take away from the aesthetics of the glass panels.

5. You can choose glass, wood or metal.

It can be made of glass, wood or a metal sheet. You could have patterns or designs on it to make it unique to yourself. It could be cut to a specific size if you want. Glass doors can be tinted. Wooden doors can be carved with interesting designs or it could have glass panels. And those glass panels can be custom shapes or different colours. You can choose clear glass, or a stained option. You have the freedom to create your own masterpiece and let your imagination run away with you during the design process.

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Source by Naeema Jada

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Logistics cost form an important part of the overall cost structure in any organization. Focus needs to be on renegotiating freight and shipping rates, reduction in overall freight costs and streamlining operations.There are six best practices that can be followed by most businesses to reduce costs.

New carriers: Constant market rate check is a best practice. Usually, logistics managers get into a comfort zone with the existing carriers. This leads to cost creep. Market rate check will bring to light other more economical operations. New carriers may be more flexible in their quotes.

Freight costs: There are several options to optimize freight costs. Renegotiation of minimum billing to a minimum for a zone needs to be explored. Product delivery coordination is another useful tool to streamline freight costs. Today both the USPS and Canada Post offer viable options for small packages. Arrangements with a number of smaller local carriers sometime s provide the best rate/best service combination. Internet offers excellent tools for comparing and optimizing freight costs

Improve shipping and receiving: Streamlining shipping and receiving practices will offer substantial savings. This can happen through reduction of window time for receiving. Starting point should be mandating delivery appointments. A flow chart needs to be made of all the operations to determine wasteful processes and combining existing processes.

Technology: Internet tools enable substantial reduction in paperwork. Documents are scanned and emailed to customs, ports etc. In case of cross border trade, documents needs to reach at least twenty four hours in advance to avoid delays at the border. Technology also allows coordination of all shipments to optimize loading.

Managing returns: Reverse logistics is an important element of freight costs. Most companies offer a liberal returns policy. If the customer is not satisfied with the product, it can be returned in 30, 60, 90 days depending on the seller. At times, the seller also arranges to pick it up. To minimize costs associated with reverse logistics processes needs to be streamlined.

Audit of freight costs: Use specialized agencies that provide post payment audit of freight bills. These agencies are usually paid on a profit sharing basis. These audits also provide valuable insight into patterns and other cost reduction opportunities.

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Source by Easwar Koovappadi