A recent article over on the CPO Agenda on cutting it fine noted that there is more to cost cutting than just hammering down price. In fact, it noted that, in most companies, the following seven options are available:

1. Avoid
   The best way to cut cost is not to spend money in the first place. Improve forecasts, shape demand, and eliminate need (through process transformation), spend will fall, and savings will rise.
2. Reduce
   Finding a more energy efficient or water efficient manufacturing process will reduce costs, as will one that reduces the amount of (wasted) raw materials required.
3. Reuse
   Find multiple uses for a product beyond its initial application or self life. Reuse an old desktop machine as a print server.
4. Recycle
   Any production waste that can be recycled for other purposes will save money (and increase the bottom line if the scrap can be sold) as will any products that can be reclaimed from the end customer for reuse or recycling at end of life.
5. Recover
   Retrieve discarded products from the customer at the end of life to remove precious metals from the products or components from a computer or piece of electronics equipment.
6. Treat
   Apply treatments to products or processes to make them last longer and reduce costs.
7. Dispose
   Dispose of unused or unwanted assets (in a sale if possible) and lower costs.

And the article is 100% correct. The question is, when will the rest of the world see that it’s not just negotiating a price break.