Posted On August 15, 2017

If you were one of the few gym manufacturers supplying the very few number of gyms that existed in the 1960s, business was easy. In other words, if you were the company making and selling dumbbells, barbells, and benches to Arnold Schwarzenegger and the rest of the bodybuilders at a little rundown, barebones place called Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach, you pretty much had a monopoly.

Things have changed.

Since 2000 memberships at traditional gyms have skyrocketed. And alternatives to traditional gyms—like Zumba® and CrossFit® only gyms—have also become a part of the fitness landscape. Purchases of home fitness equipment have also increased. That means that competition in the fitness industry is a lot different than it used to be. But it isn’t just gyms. Competition has greatly increased in just about every industry, in both the B2B and B2C sectors. Buyers of products just have a lot more choices than they used to. And it isn’t just choice that has changed the landscape. NYU professor Scott Galloway has argued that the amount of information available on any product has greatly decreased the impact of advertising.

Translation: Businesses have more competitors than ever, and their ability to mask some of the flaws of a less-than-ideal product with good branding is also limited. That means companies must make better products and be as competitive on price as possible. That dynamic means every single industry—not just gym equipment—is tougher than it used to be. To be competitive today, your company needs to be as efficient as possible. You need to change the way you do business.

And one place to start is your supply chain.

Too often our team comes across companies making great products that are undercutting their efficiency and profitability by spending time on redundant activities. Entering information multiple times might not seem like a make-or-break activity for your company, but inefficiencies like these (and many others) add up. The result can be a less profitable, less competitive business. Having an efficient supply chain isn’t an end unto itself. In your business, time is money, and time spent on an unnecessary task is money that could be spent on your next strategic investment. At Flat World Supply Chain, our technology integrates with your ERP to help you do more with less—but we define that phrase a little differently. Often doing “more with less” means trying to stay where you were with fewer resources. It means a department of five doing what a department of 10 used to do. Instead, what we mean by “doing more with less” is “your company getting to do more of the things that make you an industry leader because you’re spending less time and money on redundant or easily automated tasks within your supply chain.”

It’s a mouthful. We know that.

But for us, doing more with less isn’t about cutting staff and trying to stay afloat. It’s about redeploying your time, talent, and resources to value-added activities.

Or, to put it into language the bodybuilders at Gold’s Gym would understand, it’s not about maintenance. It’s about doing the things you need to do to get stronger.