Remove the pain and the job gets done

I analyze the process of all tasks especially the tasks that tend to get left to the very last moment they can be done; usually this is because it is a painful task. If you find this is the case analyze the task, determine why it keeps getting left, remove the pain and the tasks get done.

We used to do all our silk cutting in a cellar, it is cold and damp down there, we were always running out of cut silk, so I moved the cutting table upstairs renewed the cutting mats and I replace the cutting blades every month. The roles of silk are bound with an elastic band both ends to keep them tidy and stop them from fraying.

Now we never run out of cut silk, silk preparation is now a pleasurable task.

I’ve also removed the pain from stockists ordering our products; I’ve created a customized web-based order form, password protected obviously.

The form allows the stockist to enter design quantities within each product and the product count and price, as well as the total order price updates automatically (using javascript) (top image). It takes (probably) 2 minutes to place an order online; we get an email with all the details and then let the stockist know when we aim to dispatch their order and confirm all the details (bottom image).

We mail them every time the order status changes: when the order goes WIP, when it is complete, when it is dispatched.

We now get ninety percent of our trade orders through the website.