The truth hurts. We have heard this since the beginning of time. As much as it pains us, we must accept, and even welcome, the “hard truth” as it comes. The truth is, we can’t make good decisions as business leaders if we doubt the accuracy of information we receive. Firmatek aims to deliver the hard truth because we know the decisions you need to make for your company are important, and you should rarely have to question if you’re making those decisions based off faulty information.
In our business, we often have to deliver the hard truth to our clients. For example, we often see our clients face issues with inventory discrepancies. This can appear in the form of inventory numbers not matching what they have on the books. Occasionally, we tell them they have more than they thought they had, and the client rejoices. But most frequently, we have to tell them when they are short and that they will have to take a write down. Sometimes that even affects them personally in the form of compensation. It may seem obvious, but ignoring the truth or “changing” the truth does not do any good in the long run. In order to make the best business decisions, you need to rely on accurate information, not just what might be the easiest at the time.
How Do You Change the Truth?
In the measurement of stockpiles, we’ve seen it all. It’s data. You can manipulate it to make it say what you want it to say. Maybe you want to drop the base of the pile far below the toe of the pile, giving you a lot more material. Maybe you want to include a berm that is not usable material. If you are making adjustments to how you measure, in order to match your books, and not making consistent decisions on how you measure your inventory, it is often an indication of “changing” the truth.
At Firmatek, we believe in delivering truth. Our mission is to give companies who build the world supreme confidence. How can we give you supreme confidence in the data and analysis we provide if we are not willing to give you the hard truth? We don’t stop with just delivering you a number. We are a service provider, and we strive to be a trusted advisor to our clients. We work with our clients to explain the data and walk through why the numbers came out the way they did. We don’t just aim to deliver truth, but also to deliver understanding, which together lead to confidence in the analysis and the decisions based on that analysis.
Secondly, we do more than explain. If your inventories are significantly off – we see everything from 5 to 40 thousand or more ton discrepancies – what do you do? One option is to keep doing what you are doing. Another is to switch to someone who will allow you to make the numbers match the books. Or, you can work with Firmatek to understand where the discrepancies are coming from, to find the problem, and then to make adjustments so that the reconciliation process is not as painful the next time around.
How Do You Approach the Hard Truth?
When it comes to facing the hard truth head-on, you have to consider what matters most. Where do you place the most value? Is it just about a number? Is it a low cost? Is it about a number that matches your books? Is it about accuracy? Is it about customer service? Is it about ease and convenience? There are many things that play into a decision as to why clients choose a certain provider.
Putting your head in the sand and ignoring operational issues, like inventory discrepancies, will eventually cause problems. The truth may be hard to take this time around, but if you have a team that will work with you to fix the problems, you won’t face these same issues the next time around. You can use the hard truth to develop better systems or make adjustments to the plant. As a service provider, Firmatek hopes to help you achieve the best results and to make each inventory reconciliation process a smooth one. And that’s the silver lining to the hard truth. When you tackle it head-on, you actually improve your business performance.
