The TQM/Sustainability area, which is available from the Decisions menu in Capstone.xls, can be used to improve the efficiency and profitability of your company.

The two sustainability-oriented initiatives, the UNEP Green Program and GEMI TQEM, can lower labor and material costs. The UNEP Green Program also can improve customer perceptions about your company, which leads to increased sales.

The remaining initiatives can also increase efficiency and lower costs. Your company needs to determine which initiatives best serves its purposes. For example, if you are keeping automation levels low so R&D projects complete more quickly, you might want to invest in areas that lower labor costs (for example, Quality Initiative Training). If your company is competing in the high technology segments (with high material costs) you might consider initiatives that reduce material costs (for example, Continuous Process Improvement).

The effects of the investments are cumulative, offering returns in the round they are made and each of the following rounds. However, companies that invest in the same areas over two or three years (depending on the amount of money) will experience decreasing and eventually no additional returns in those areas. Initiatives improve operation and quality procedures, which (depending on the investment) will:

• Produce administrative savings;
• Improve production efficiency by lowering labor and/or material costs;
• Increase demand;
• Reduce R&D times and costs.

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