The concept of Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) was brought by Philip Crosby in his book "Quality is Free." This simply means reducing your waste and increasing efficiency in your production process by doing things right away firsthand. The idea is to avoid rework that can be due to mistakes and defects in the production process. The Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) idea is great for business as it improves productivity, reduces costs, improves customer satisfaction, and much more. Let's move further in this article and briefly understand DRIFT.
What Is DRIFT (Do It Right The First Time)?
Inventory management is the managerial accounting plan known as Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT). To cut down waste and inventory costs, just the important inventory materials are ordered. It seeks to cut costs or lower the cost of idle inventory. This can not only boost productivity but also help in focusing on one thing at a time. The idea relates to just-in-time (JIT) inventory systems. Therefore, the idea behind DRIFT is to effectively manage all JIT operations to avoid any production process delays. DRIFT motivates individuals and organizations to prioritize quality in their work. Thus, applying the Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) concept in your business can help you improve the quality of your products, which can indirectly result in satisfied customers. Furthermore, DRIFT is a challenging and technical quality control exercise. Hence, individuals and business owners often tend to ignore it, but it gives high returns that are long-lasting.
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Understanding DRIFT (Do It Right The First Time)
Businesses and individuals should understand the importance of Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) because its goal is to cut down on the price of extra inventory or raw materials. Just-in-time (JIT) inventory, which is the practice of just getting the supplies required, is related to Do It Right First Time (DRIFT). In other words, JIT allows businesses to maintain low inventory levels by delaying production until after sales are recorded. Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) aims to make sure that management wants all the Just In Time activities to be done properly and efficiently to avoid production delays. It makes an effort to prevent the possible risks and shortcomings of the JIT inventory system. For example, a single mistake at one point in the production process can have an impact on the entire process. A business can run a smooth manufacturing process without the need to keep a large inventory by doing it right the first time. This will reduce production expenses and cut costs on idle inventory.
Disadvantages Of DRIFT
Do It Right First Time does help businesses improve the quality and ability of their product. Other than this, Do It Right The First Time users also enjoy cheaper costs and higher profit margins. DRIFT helps in the management of expenses in the production process and boosts profitability. However, it has some disadvantages. For example, it can prevent businesses from making a profit from an increase in demand for their product. Let's learn more about the disadvantages of DRIFT below.
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1 Increased Shipping Cost
Additional shipping and handling fees increase with the frequency of orders to suppliers. As a result, the price of a good per unit can increase, ultimately decreasing the profit margin for the business. In other words, the higher transportation cost may cancel out the higher profit margins that the Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) production process aimed to produce.
2 Avoids Economies Of Scale
Businesses that use the Do It Right First The Time (DRIFT) and Just in Time (JIT) approach miss out on the chance to benefit from economies of scale. When production increases while average input costs decrease, economies of scale take place. The fixed cost, like equipment, remains the same or mostly unchanged, which is why output increases, resulting in lower costs. Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) and JIT-using businesses also skip the quantity-based supply discounts because they place smaller, more frequent supply orders that are not eligible for price.
3 No Backup Stock
When there is no inventory or material backlog, any supply chain problem or unexpected increase in demand for the final product can cause delivery delays to clients. Thus, this can result in an unhappy customer and cancellation of orders.
Businesses must find suppliers that are ready to fill regular, small orders to use Just In Time and Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) methods for on-demand production. The business could experience production delays if there's a disturbance, such as a natural disaster because the supplier might be unable to provide the supplies.
Although it is more expensive to buy in large quantities than on demand, doing so enables businesses to keep enough stock on hand to avoid supply chain disturbances.
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Save Time And Money With Do It Right The First Time
Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) can be advantageous for business if applied with a good plan. It can help you avoid mistakes and rework companies' products and, at the same time, ensure quality. By avoiding zero errors firsthand, businesses can save valuable time and cost. Though it requires investment and effort to set up systems, processes, and controls to ensure zero output at first time, the returns are high and long-lasting. TranZact can help you with the simple and easy use of Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) in your business. They can bring the most out of the DRIFT concept for SMEs and make them efficient with zero defects and high-quality production. In addition, their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software is easy to use in inventory management and does not need any technical training and skills.
FAQs
Q1. Why is Doing It Right The First Time Important in business?
Bringing Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) in the system can help businesses cut costs on idle inventory and raw materials. Besides, it makes the production process efficient by reducing waste and saving time. DRIFT makes companies prevent errors and defects firsthand to avoid rework and or poor quality products.
Q2. Are there any industries or sectors where Do It Right The First Time (DRIFT) is particularly important?
DRIFT is a managerial concept. However, it can be applied to every job, role, and industry. Research and studies show that the most common use of DRIFT outside the manufacturing sector is among professionals in software, home improvement, and automotive industry.
