We determine the total time it takes to do something from start to finish, whether it's serving a customer or developing a new technology. By tracking data constantly we find ways to make the process more efficient, more productive, more cost-effective and easier to use. The end result is higher quality. It doesn't matter whether we emphasize reducing cycle time or increasing quality. At Motorola, one always leads to the other.
Time is money.
It's as simple as that. If you sit down and look at the process of serving a customer or creating a new product, you discover some amazing things. During most of the process of developing products or offering services, things wait in line, or wait for a manager to make a decision. Nothing constructive is happening, nothing of value is being added to the products or services. These lapses in time, no matter how great or small, show an opportunity for improvement in the process.