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Strategic Value Analysis® in Healthcare
Did You Know...?
That Value Analysis Was Developed Back In the 1940's After World War II as a Way to Find Lower Cost but Higher Quality Alternative products and methods. This was Due to the Lack of Material Resources At The End of The War.
Inside This Issue
The Secret to Your Savings Success
The 7 Rules of the Value Analysis Game
Lets Talk About Your Value Analysis Process
Savings Beyond Price -Weekly eNewsletter- June 7, 2007
Robert T. Yokl
President & Chief Value Strategist
Greetings!
The Secret To Your Savings Success!
I have often talked about how we are always looking for the SECRET to our savings success. But we have always found this search for the SECRET to be illusory.
For a while we thought it was buying the latest and greatest material management system. That wasn’t the answer! Then we decided that the answer to this challenge was to organization our data. That wasn’t the answer either!
Now it seems we believe the SECRET is buying what the marketplace is calling spend managing software. Let me assure you that this isn’t the answer -- by a long shot!
The SECRET to your savings success is to have a “money-saving system” in place that is repeatable, measurable, trainable and auditable! For example, McDonald’s has a system for everything they do, because they don’t want to leave anything to chance, probability, or fate. You need to do the same thing with your supply chain savings program or else, you will continue to buy the next big thing and find it really wasn’t the SECRET to your supply chain success after all!
Don’t waste your time or money buying these costly parts for your money-saving machine before you have a system to test whether you really need these parts or if they will even fit into your “money savings system”.
Your Partner in Supply Chain Savings,
Robert T. Yokl
President & Chief Value Strategist
P.S. Let us help fill in the “GAPs” in your money saving systems with our unique and state of the art benchmarking, planning and value analysis systems and software. Why reinvent the wheel when everything you need is right here.
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The 7 Rules Of The Value Analysis Game
“Every Game Has Rules Including The Value Analysis Game”
As in any game, the “value analysis game” has rules that must be adhered to if your value team(s) is to become proficient at it. By proficient I mean that your team members become capable, skillful, and expert at the game. Here are the 7 rules of the “value analysis game” you need to know that I loosely borrowed from Michael E. Gerber*:
1. Start By Designing The Game First, Not After The Game Has Started!
Too often we make up the “value analysis game” on the fly which just frustrates and confuses the players. You need to design your game first, not after the game has already started.
2. Never Create A Game For Your Team You’re Not Willing To Play Yourself!
This rule especially applies to your senior management who often skip value analysis team meetings because they say they are too busy to attend. If they don’t want to play the game then either don’t play at all or throw them off your team for non-attendance!
3. Change The Game From Time To Time, Tactics, not Strategy!
Change is good, healthy and welcome from time to time with your “value analysis game”, but only change your tactics, not your strategy. Strategy is the way you approach your value analysis studies (never-ending search for lower cost alternatives), while tactics are the policies, procedures and systems you employ to meet your strategic goals.
4. Never Expect The Game To Be Self-sustaining!
If you think that you can call a value analysis meeting and that everyone will show up with their studies completed, you don’t understand human nature. To be successful in the “value analysis game” you need to lead, direct, inspect, motivate, inspire and demand high standards from your team members to sustain your momentum.
5. The Game Has To Make Sense!
The “value analysis game” doesn’t make sense if everyone gets everything they request. It doesn’t make sense if no one shows up for meetings. It doesn’t make sense if one or two people do all the work. The game needs to be fair, logical, and productive – for everyone – or they won’t come out to play!
6. The Game Needs To Be Fun For Everyone!
You need to have pizza and ice cream parties, lunches, prizes, and surprises, when your team attains defined milestones to make your “value analysis game” fun for all parties involved.
7. If You Can’t Think Of A Good Game, Beg, Borrow, or Buy One!
The worst thing you can do is play a game that everyone hates (I hate Monopoly myself). If your “value analysis game” isn’t working or you can’t think of a good game, beg, borrow, or buy one that will work for you.
If you start to think of value analysis as a money-savings game you will have more fun playing it and have better results. Start today by designing or re-designing your “value analysis game” so you can enjoy the most profitable, productive and addictive game I can think of to enrich your business life.
* Michael E. Gerber, small business guru, is the author of The E Myth.
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June 7, 2007
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Bloggers - Robert T. Yokl, President/Chief Value Strategist and Robert W. Yokl, VP of Operations for SVAH
Let’s Talk About Your Value Analysis Process
by Robert W. Yokl
I cannot tell you how many of the hundreds of hospitals we have worked with who have firmly believed that they had a “Value Analysis Process” in place but did not realize that it was more about content than an actual step by step process that would keep everyone on the same page on every VA study. Without a defined repeatable process, your team members are going to “wing it” or make it up as they go along with their VA studies.
A much better way is to utilize a six phase process (like SVAH offers) that follows the classic tenet of value analysis and which are proven and tested to work in any healthcare organization. More importantly, each one of these VA phases has detailed steps within each respective phase of a VA study to keep you on track. Why is this so important? Value Analysis is similar to TQM, Six Sigma and Lean Management in that it has clearly defined process, structure, rules and protocols. Imagine if you establish a Lean or Six Sigma team without the team members having any prior knowledge or training in these disciplines -- it would be a farce.
To sum up! I would like you to think about how having a “Value Analysis Process” vs. “winging it” that will make your business life easier, VA meetings more productive and with fewer hassles. This improvement in your value analysis program will now happen naturally because you now will have a system to generate “big” supply chain savings over the next few years, as opposed to allowing your team members to do their own thing.
P.S. If you are looking to breathe new life into your value analysis program with a well defined process that works, why not take a look at our books and training programs that SVAH is offering with our new Value Analysis University section of our Web Site at www.strategicvalueanalysis.com/valueanalysisuniversity.htm.
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