ABSTRACT
Owing to an increase in competition over the past 10 years, additional measurements have been developed for factors that can increase a company's competitiveness. These key indicators are the competitive-edge issues of quality, lead time and price. It was easy to develop a logical approach that would maximize attention to each of these issues so that efforts could be made to eliminate those causes that affect these factors negatively. This approach fell into place with the current concept of cost/waste reduction. However, it has become apparent that improving a company's position with respect to the competitive-edge issues may only serve to increase the potential for making more money. Such efforts do not guarantee increased profitability, and when approached without benefit of a thorough understanding of the impact of the total corporate environment, they may result in a much less competitive entity.
