CES
Craftsman
Commercial Drywall, Inc. Vol. 3, No.4
i
February 1982
An open letter to all CDI’ers In the past three years there has been a lot of talk at CDI about productivity. In fact, the company has implemented a program called Operation 3P to help us improve our productivity. But .what actually is productivity? Well, economists tell us that productivity is what you get for what you put in. Basically, it is a measurement, much like a ballplayer's batting average or a student's test scores. What it measures, though, is not how hard we work, but how smartly and efficiently. That is what this issue of the Craftsman is all about. We will take a look at productivity in
general. And, we will take a look at some of the things going on inside CDI to improve productivity - our ability to get more from what we put in. Hopefully you will find that the bottom line on any of these programs is the commitment of our people. Of course, new technology, streamlined processes and innovative company policies can all help raise our batting average. But, it is the ideas of our individual employees that will make the difference. In an industry such as ours, labor accounts for about 70 percent of costs with materials consuming most of the other 30
percent. Therefore, the biggest challenge we face as a company is to get the individual employee - you - even more involved, more responsible, more informed, and consequently more productive. The individual employee at CDI holds the key to our entire productivity as a company. We hope this issue of the Craftsman helps us along in our endeavors to unlocking some of the doors to higher productivity.
Where it’s been, where it is
3P — COD5s answer to died™ mg productivity Since late 1979, the phrase "3P” has been used quite freely within CDI. While it has become an almost everyday expression for many individuals, some employees do not fully understand 3P, its concept or its purpose. Such a lack of understanding is understandable when dealing with a productivity improvement program such as 3P. Productivity itself is a complex idea that is not fully understood, even by those who work with it on a daily bcisis The year 1979 is a good starting place to describe CDI’s operation 3P because it was then that the company first recognized the cause of an ever growing problem — that of higher and higher costs of doing business. The problem of rising costs was not unique to CDI though. Virtually (See 3P, page 2)
In early 1980. all CDI employees participated in a survey to determine worker needs so that 3P would head in the right direction. Input from this survey led to the develop ment of several activities.