Measurements add value to the parts you manufacture. That may not be a widely accepted position, because the act of measuring is an additional step in the manufacturing sequence, and every step has a cost associated with it. With pressure to reduce costs and improve productivity, some might think that eliminating the measuring steps would do just that. If they could only make their manufacturing process accurate and consistent enough, measuring would be unnecessary and, therefore, not measuring would lower their total costs. How valuable are the measurements you make? Cost of measuring
If you follow the latest business management articles you’ll notice that the emphasis is on measurement. You can’t tell how effective a new initiative is unless you measure it. For example, a company may decide to reduce its lead times. That is a worthy objective probably driven by customer feedback (or complaints and order cancellations). The company knows it has a problem with lead times, but it needs a measurement methodology in order to do something about it. There are costs associated with measuring lead times, but the payback could easily offset those costs.

 …