How Businesses Improve Productivity

• Businesses can change and increase productivity by implementing new technology
• Both state and federal governments can offer grants to business that are thinking of impementing new technology, this is done to encourage better productivity 
  • However it isn't necessary for businesses to rely solely on inenting new technologies to improve their productivity 
• Technology has allowed many businesses to become innovative in their practices

Big Data 

• The collection, analysis and generation of insights from a wide variety of data to improve businesses' performance 
  • For example, a supermarket may get big data from loyalty cards to discover what products customers buy the most of 

• Refers to the quality of working equipment and facilities whcih directly impacts productivity
• For example, replacing old machinery with more efficient ones

• This would require the business to analyse tasks, their sequencing and subsequently re-ordering the tasks to make them more efficient 
• Time plays an important role with this element
  • Suppliers strive to get their products to their clients as soon as possible in order to remain competitive

• This incorporates the management of inventory (supply/stock), the procurement of supplies (how they obtain the supplies) and the distribution of finished products to customers

Inventory Control

• The aim of this process is to ensure that the correct quanitities of parts and materials are available for the business to keep running so there are enough finished products to meet the demand of customers 
  • If there is too much stock, all of it (and the money spent on it) would be wasted because they would expire or there wouldn't be enough demand 
  • If there is too little stock the business can't meet customer demands

Just In Time (JIT) Manufacturing

• An inventory management system intorduced in Japan in the 1970's 
• It aims to avoid holding any stock that isn't in use (input or finished goods)
• Supply arrives just as needed and finished products are immediately sold or dispatched to customers