IBEC Board member, Dave Kier, owned and operated a sizable animal feed mill in Iowa (see the IBEC video on the website.) This is one of the many lessons learned over the years in business.
Larry W. Sharp, BAM Support Specialist, IBEC Ventures
Larry.Sharp@ibecventures.com
—–
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;” Philippians 2:12 NASB?
Have you noticed how often terms such as “continuous”, “always” or “strive” are used in God’s spoken word written for us? One of my best decisions was hiring a firm to teach us the science of “Continuous Quality Improvement”. We learned that quality is defined as “low variation”. We established a unique quality program that led to developing our own laboratory with some of the best Near Infrared Equations in the industry for the purpose of measuring nutrient content of ingredients coming in and complete feed going out. As we identified variations, we learned their causes and how to sustainably reduce variation. We learned that to see reduced variation of output, we needed to ensure we had little variation in input and our processes, from accounting to delivery. This issue of consistency goes against the grain of our impatient nature.
We had taken on a very large customer whose tonnage put the mill at maximum capacity. They knew we were going to build a larger mill but wondered how we could maintain quality at our production level. They, in conjunction with a pharmaceutical company, hired an auditor from Texas to audit our mill for quality. For three days, he poured through our test results and studied our processes, to then have a meeting with all parties where he stated we had the highest quality feed mill he ever audited (I still like to brag about that).
We learned that by continuously improving the quality (consistency) of our process, we gained a higher quality in our feed and services. This ultimately led to greater efficiency, which enhanced our profits. Paul made note of this above, as we are to continuously work out or remove the variation in our lives as redeemed ones. It takes work and discipline to keep fighting the spiritual battle that we are amidst. Do you think the enemy wants us to diligently study God’s word or to spend time in prayer? He tosses every distraction he can at us to prevent us from becoming more like Jesus.
I think whether we admit it or not, we picture Jesus as a homeless man walking through the streets with long hair, wearing a robe and sandals, yet John was allowed to see the Jesus he describes in Revelation 1:13-16. I advise you to reread these verses. I truly believe it is wise to take more seriously what Paul said to continuously improve our redeemed life.