When a business is trying to make a profit, many factors go into it. The cost of producing goods is one of the most important factors because if the cost of production is higher than what the goods are worth, there is no way to profit from them and the company will go out of business. While productive efficiency is a well-known economic term, it also applies to individual businesses.
What is Productive Efficiency?
Productive efficiency refers to the production of goods in the economy. At some point, the economy may not be able to produce more of one product without affecting the production levels of another product.
Productive efficiency is used to measure if a business is producing the maximum amount of a product at the lowest possible cost. To make a profit, a business needs to use its resources efficiently so when they sell their goods they make money from them. It is important to control costs like labor, materials, energy, and transportation.
Impact on Quality
Sometimes when businesses try to produce their goods at the lowest possible cost, it can affect the quality of their products. By cutting costs to their lowest point, a business may need to buy cheaper materials or cut expenses, such as labor costs, which can result in sacrificing the quality of products.
It can also mean cutting the quality of service. If your business is service-oriented, such as a restaurant or hotel, then cutting costs can have a direct effect on customer service, therefore customer satisfaction. If you’re reducing expenses by cutting labor costs, then having fewer employees can mean customers don’t get the services they want or the quality of service they are accustomed to having.
When this happens, the reputation of your business can be negatively affected. Research shows that 70% of customers who leave a business for one of their competitors have no problem with their products, but with their customer care. In addition, 86% of customers will pay more for better customer service.
Responsible Cost Cutting
Fortunately, there are many ways to reduce expenses without sacrificing the quality of your products or the reputation of your business. While the productive efficiency definition doesn’t mention how producing goods for the lowest cost impacts quality, businesses are aware of its effects. These cost-cutting measures can help reduce expenses without producing low-quality goods.
Review Expenses
By reviewing your company’s expenses like the cost of supplies, cleaning chemicals, linens, or insurance, you may find ways to cut costs. If you discover your business is buying supplies too often, then you can initiate inventory control measures.
For instance, managers of a restaurant can set out the number of kitchen towels to be used during a shift and keep the main supply locked in a cabinet to prevent waste. Also, if the review of the company’s expenses reveals it is spending money on unnecessary services, like certain types of insurance, then you can cancel those policies.
Negotiate with Vendors
By auditing the costs of materials, supplies, and services, you may be able to find ways to cut costs by negotiating with the vendors supplying those items. If you’ve been loyal to a vendor for several years, then they may be willing to give you a loyalty discount on the items you buy from them. If not, consider finding suppliers who are willing to offer what you need at a better price.
Replace Equipment
If old equipment keeps breaking down, then your costs can increase because you need to pay for repairs each time it breaks, and it may slow down productivity. Replacing equipment will prevent frequent repairs, and it may provide more cost-effective ways to produce your goods.
Provide Employee Training
By making sure your employees have the essential skills your business needs, they can work more efficiently and help cut costs. Even though you may need to implement training programs, which costs money, it can reduce mistakes, increase productivity, and produce better quality work.
These measures for cutting costs can help maintain the quality your customers are acquainted with, whether it’s the customer service they receive or the products they’re buying from your business. Productive efficiency is achieved when your company is producing the maximum amount of goods for the minimal cost, and these measures can help accomplish productive efficiency.
Making a Profit
Ideally, a company will make a profit when it can sell its goods for more than their production costs. So, if it costs $3 to make a widget, but it is sold for $5, then the company makes a profit of $2. Another way to determine a profit is through distribution. If the cost of producing an extra unit of a product is the same at its marginal cost, then allocative efficiency has been achieved.
An additional unit of a good may also produce a marginal benefit, but as more units are produced, their benefit declines. The marginal benefit and marginal cost are closely related because as the cost exceeds the benefit, then the cost of producing the last unit goes up. If the cost goes up, then the ability to make a profit decreases.
Finding the Right Balance
It is important to find the right balance when trying to achieve productive efficiency. Otherwise, it can affect other areas of your business. Production efficiency may be reached when it isn’t possible to make further improvements in the production of one good without harming the production of another good.
For example, if you own a beverage company, then your main resource is water. If your company is bottling more water than cola, yet you make more money on cola sales, then you’re adversely affecting your cola production.
It can be difficult for a business to find the right balance between the costs of goods and the cost of production, but to stay profitable, it is imperative that businesses do so. However, if you can achieve the right balance, then your business will be profitable.
Image Source: Adobe Stock
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