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PubMed2004

How you slice it: smarter segmentation for your sales force.

Three years ago, 70-year-old Hill-Rom Incorporated was in a position familiar to many mature businesses: The company was strong but needed to be stronger. It was a top producer of hospital beds and specialty mattresses, its core product lines. It also had competitive complementary lines of stretchers, furniture, and architectural equipment. It had an extensive customer base, a respected sales force, and solid profit margins. But by the time Ernest Waaser took over as chief executive in early 2001, revenue growth had been slowing, and competition was on the rise. To secure Hill-Rom's place in the market, Waaser decided to focus first on the sales organization--partly because the cost of sales had risen gradually over the past five years and partly because acquisitions and other initiatives had made the sales organization more complex. The CEO took several steps to restructure the sales force. First, the company changed its customer segments to better reflect customers' demands and financial status, ultimately targeting two main groups: key and prime customers. It then changed the overall structure of the sales organization so it could tailor its approach to these two segments; key customers received more specialized service than prime customers. Finally, Hill-Rom adjusted the sales force after the company took an in-depth look at historical data on products and services and sales completed. Reasons for staffing changes were carefully communicated to the sales force. Because of Hill-Rom's initiatives, the cost of sales is down, short-term revenue growth is up, the outlook for long-term revenue growth looks bright, sales and profit margins are up, and customer satisfaction has increased. Best practice, indeed.

Commerce↗
PubMed1994

Collaborative benchmarking in health care.

BACKGROUND: A collaborative approach to traditional benchmarking involves the formation of a voluntary network of health care providers that cooperate in carrying out the benchmarking study. THE COLLABORATIVE APPROACH: Collaborative benchmarking involves three phases: Select the benchmarking topic. Decision makers at the sponsoring organization select the benchmarking topic. Establish the benchmarking collaborative. Potential participant organizations are identified and encouraged to join the collaborative. Once the collaborative is formed, project stakeholders are identified, a charter for the study is created, and the project steering committee is established. Conduct the study. A combination of internal and external benchmarking can be used, first conducting the project within the collaborative, then repeating the study either within the industry or across industries. Regardless of the benchmarking type selected, the process follows the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle. An example of a health care system that is benchmarking the workers' compensation process is used to illustrate the three phases of collaborative benchmarking. A second example, which describes a benchmarking project focused on the admissions process, illustrates the external benchmarking phase. PREREQUISITES AND ACCELERATORS: Four prerequisites for effective benchmarking are leadership commitment, experience with continuous quality improvement, preparation of the organization, and identification of key processes. Organizational capacity for learning, knowledge of the customer and process variation, resource availability, and leadership understanding of benchmarking may each accelerate, or retard, the effective use of collaborative benchmarking.

Consumer Behavior↗
PubMed1994

Managed care innovation and new product development.

This article explores recent innovative activity by managed care payor plans nationwide with particular emphasis on emerging, new relationships between the plans and their purchasers, enrollees, provider panels, and competitors. Because they already practice what advocates of health care reform are now preaching, many managed care plans are leading the charge to transform our health care delivery and financing systems.

Administrative Personnel↗
PubMed1997

Ten-year experience in managing a capitated ophthalmology carve-out by an academic eye center.

A 10-year experience of managing a capitated opthalmology carve-out by an academic health unit is presented. Lessons learned regarding pricing, utilization, and managing this contract are discussed. Handling the cost of education and remaining competitive is presented as a not-insurmountable hurdle. Academic health units can compete in today's environment; however, the learning curve is steep and the problems many.

Academic Medical Centers↗
PubMed1992

A derivation of the underlying constructs of just-in-time management systems.

Researchers have recommended that the theoretical constructs underlying just-in-time (JIT) management systems be identified and developed if JIT is to be fully understood and its full capabilities realized. In this study, we advanced this conceptual development through an instrument based on the relevant literature and empirically deriving three underlying constructs: (1) operating structure and control, (2) product scheduling, and (3) quality implementation. We report a content analysis of these constructs and develop propositions regarding their relationships, predecessors, and outcomes.

Data Collection↗
PubMed1994

How to unlock the benefits of MRP (materiel requirements planning) II and Just-in-Time.

Manufacturing companies need to use the best and most applicable parts of MRP II and JIT to run their businesses effectively. MRP II provides the methodology to plan and control the total resources of the company and focuses on the processes that add value to their customers' products. It is the cornerstone of total quality management, as it reduces the variability and costly activities in the communication and subsequent execution of the required steps from customer order to shipment. JIT focuses on simplifying the total business operation and execution of business processes. MRP II and JIT are the foundations for successful manufacturing businesses.

Commerce↗
PubMed1994

The path to successful MRP (materiel requirements planning) package selection.

The vendor demonstration is usually nothing more than a glorified sales presentation and is of little value in judging how close a fit a software package is to your company's requirements. In order to turn the demonstration from a sales pitch into a tool for determining if the package meets your requirements, you must take control of the demonstration. The way to take control is to tell the vendor exactly what you expect to see during the demonstration and that the package will be judged on whether it is shown to meet each of your requirements. The way to tell the vendor what you want to see is by use of a "script." By using a scripted demonstration, the presentation becomes a tool in the selection process.

Commerce↗
PubMed1994

Read my lips--no more late deliveries.

Over 70,000 materiel requirements planning (MRP) and manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) systems have been implemented in this country in the last 20 to 30 years. Yet the question many of the companies who own these systems are asking is, "Was it worth it?" Less than a third of the companies are answering in the affirmative. Two key differences between the satisfied and the not-so-satisfied companies are (1) support to the user community and (2) management involvement in the day-to-day use of the system. Without these two items, the improvements brought about by an MRP or MRP II system will most likely be mediocre at best.

Consumer Behavior↗
PubMed1994

The people side of MRP (materiel requirements planning).

A montage of ideas and concepts have been successfully used to train and motivate people to use MRP II systems more effectively. This is important today because many companies are striving to achieve World Class Manufacturing status. Closed loop Materiel Requirements Planning (MRP) systems are an integral part of the process of continuous improvement. Successfully using a formal management planning system, such as MRP II, is a fundamental stepping stone on the path toward World Class Excellence. Included in this article are techniques that companies use to reduce lead time, simplify bills of materiel, and improve schedule adherence. These and other steps all depend on the people who use the system. The focus will be on how companies use the MRP tool more effectively.

Industry↗
PubMed1994

Integrating MRP (materiel requirements planning) into modern business.

Time is the commodity of the '90s. Therefore, we all must learn how to use our manufacturing systems to shorten lead time and increase customer satisfaction. The objective of this article is to discuss practical ways people integrate the techniques of materiel requirements planning (MRP) systems with just-in-time (JIT) execution systems to increase customer satisfaction. Included are examples of new ways people use MRP systems to exemplify the process of continuous improvement--multiple items on work orders, consolidated routings, flexing capacity, and other new developments. Ways that successful companies use MRP II for planning and JIT for execution are discussed. There are many examples of how to apply theory to real life situations and a discussion of techniques that work to keep companies in the mode of continuous improvement. Also included is a look at hands-on, practical methods people use to achieve lead time reduction and simplify bills of material. Total quality management concepts can be applied to the MRP process itself. This in turn helps people improve schedule adherence, which leads to customer satisfaction.

Commerce↗
PubMed1994

Integrating MRP (materiel requirements planning) II and JIT to achieve world-class status.

The concepts and principles of using manufacturing resource planning (MRP II) for planning are not new. Their success has been proven in numerous manufacturing companies in America. The concepts and principles of using just-in-time (JIT) inventory for execution, while more recent, have also been available for some time, and their success in Japan well documented. However, it is the effective integration of these two powerful tools that open the way to achieving world-class manufacturing status. This article will utilize a newly developed world-class manufacturing model, which will review the aspects of planning, beginning with a business plan through the production planning process and culminating with a master schedule that drives a materiel/capacity plan. The importance and interrelationship of these functions are reviewed. The model then illustrates the important aspects of executing these plans beginning with people issues, through total quality control (TQC) and pull systems. We will then utilize this new functional model to demonstrate the relationship between these various functions and the importance of integrating them with a total comprehensive manufacturing strategy that will lead to world-class manufacturing and profits.

Commerce↗
PubMed1994

Capacity management: get the level of detail right.

The objective of this article is to outline the three main stages of manufacturing planning where capacity analysis is employed and to highlight the differences in approach and level of detail required for capacity analysis at each stage. Capacity management is not a single discipline or function. Rather, the term takes on meaning within the context of the planning job it is supporting. There are significant differences between the objectives and output of each planning stage and consequently, there is a need to adjust the approach and level of detail employed in capacity analysis and scheduling depending on the stage. In effect, the typical manufacturing company doesn't have one planning or capacity management challenge; it has several. Thus, when seeking solutions to planning or capacity problems, a company must first decide which problem it wants to attack and then select the peopl/tool combination best suited to handle the level of detail involved.

Industry↗
PubMed1994

Sales and marketing's partnership role in class A MRP II (material requirements planning).

As the material and requirements planning (MRP) II process has evolved, many companies have discovered that the process is greatly enhanced when the entire business participates. The sales and operations planning process is the forum for the businesswide decisions concerning sales, production, and inventory. Sales and marketing must be integral parts of these decision-making activities.

Commerce↗
PubMed1994

Controlling inventory performance in a just-in-time environment.

This article will enable the reader to: 1) discover how to implement a cycle counting system to ensure inventory accuracy, 2) learn how to modify a cycle counting system to be successful in a point-of-use/backflush system, and 3) discuss the roles of production, materiel, engineering, and quality in a successful just-in-time cycle counting system.

Electronics↗
PubMed1995

A contemporary perspective on capitated reimbursement for imaging services.

Capitation ensures predictability of healthcare costs, requires acceptance of a premium in return for providing all required medical services and defines the actual dollar amount paid to a physician or hospital on a per member per month basis for a service or group of services. Capitation is expected to dramatically affect the marketplace in the near future, as private enterprise demands lower, more stable healthcare costs. Capitation requires detailed quantitative and financial data, including: eligibility and benefits determination, encounter processing, referral management, claims processing, case management, physician compensation, insurance management functions, outcomes reporting, performance management and cost accounting. It is important to understand actuarial risk and capitation marketing when considering a capitation contract. Also, capitated payment methodologies may vary to include modified fee-for-service, incentive pay, risk pool redistributions, merit, or a combination. Risk is directly related to the ability to predict utilization and unit cost of imaging services provided to a specific insured population. In capitated environments, radiologists will have even less control over referrals than they have today and will serve many more "covered lives"; long-term relationships with referring physicians will continue to evaporate; and services will be provided under exclusive, multi-year contracts. In addition to intensified use of technology for image transfer, telecommunications and sophisticated data processing and tracking systems, imaging departments must continue to provide the greatest amount of appropriate diagnostic information in a timely fashion at the lowest feasible cost and risk to the patient.

Capitation Fee↗