1 Introduction

You should note that, although this session is shorter than the last, it contains a number of Activities which may involve you in several hours of work.

Terry Wisham, the Chief Executive of Clairbuoys Ltd, attended a presentation by one of his managers on the application of work study techniques to some of the organization's methods. He listened with interest, but gave a guarded response.

'OK. Supposing we spend several weeks of valuable time recording and measuring,' he said, 'working out exactly how long it should take to perform these tasks, what then? What I'm interested in is in finding efficiency improvements that are real and lasting.'

These techniques, which you read about in the last session, are useful and interesting. However, they are not magic formulae which will lead to efficiency enhancements automatically. They are practical tools which are intended to be used with careful thought and planning. If and when you do apply them, it may not be entirely apparent how they will help you in your search for increased efficiency. So what's the best approach?

You will recall that we noted in Session A that it is in the management of resources that the key to efficiency lies. It is therefore the aim of this next session to help you identify:

• the resources you have

• ways of planning for saving on these resources.

2 What are the Real Costs of Using Resources?

We know that maintaining and improving efficiency consists of making the best...