What do Analysts really Measure ?

What do Analysts really Measure ?

I often see the job title “Analyst” which begs the question – What is being analysed ? I suspect it is only the existing organisation, the existing value adding capability and existing supply chain synchronisation standards. It must be, because without a time-based framework all the waste and untapped potential cannot be seen. For example – Analysts and Accountants only measure the outputs, results and characteristics of the existing inputs to outputs (End to end) organisation.

If the above statement is correct, we have a problem because I find that most organisations in the £500,000 to £28 Billion Group range (Manufacturing, Services and Health) contain a lot of waste and non-value adding activity when viewed through the lens of time. Plus, I must add, most supply chains are not synchronised and parts, materials and information often arrive way to early or late.

Should we simply continue measuring how many units we produced this month, this year v last year or how many health patients we saw this month v last month, etc or should we look instead at all the waste and non value adding time ? Please feel free to comment.