Cost Cuts By Way Of Lean Means

Industry Week reports that U.S. operations managers are overwhelmingly focused on cutting costs, according to a new survey of over 500 operations leaders conducted by Stiles Associates, LLC, an executive recruiting firm. Over half of study’s participants reported annual sales of more than $500 million, and a quarter report sales in excess of $5 billion.

The Survey Found that over 90% of companies report that their operational improvement initiatives have helped them respond to the market downturn over the past six months. More than two thirds of firms said they are still hiring or maintaining the current staff levels of their operational improvement teams.

Spending on improvement initiatives is down at roughly one third of companies, but holding steady or increasing at the remaining two thirds.