“Tenali, profits are flat despite stable sales?” Maharaj was curious and sad at the same time.
“Exactly, Maharaj. Revenue is ₹50 lakh every month. But costs? stuck at ₹44 lakh.”
Tenali leaned forward. “Maharaj, please show me last 3 months’ data.”
Maharaj opened the sheet:
Labour cost: ₹12 lakh → ₹12.2 lakh → ₹12.4 lakh
Material wastage: 6% → 6.5% → 7%
Machine downtime: 8% of total hours
Rework cost: ₹1.8 lakh/month
Tenali smiled. “Maharaj, we are chasing big savings. But ignoring small leaks.”
“But nothing major has changed!” Maharaj exclaimed.
“Exactly,” Tenali replied. “That’s your problem.
Apply Kaizen Costing. Continuous small improvements.
Reduce wastage from 7% to 5% → save ₹1 lakh
Cut downtime by 2% → save ₹60,000
Improve process to reduce rework by 20% → save ₹36,000
“Total monthly impact?” Maharaj asked.
Tenali answered, “almost ₹2 lakh! Without even changing product, price, or volume!”
Maharaj leaned back. “So profit wasn’t stuck… we were.”
Tenali nodded happily, “Yes Maharaj. Big profits don’t come from big changes. They come from small inefficiencies removed daily.”