There’s nothing more effective than a whack on the side of the head to get our attention. In many ways, the history of the recession will be what companies have done to improve their operations in a difficult period.

This came to mind when reading in the Wall Street Journal about what the Whirlpool Corp. did about its supply chain practices after acquiring Maytag. There were duplications everywhere, along with retailers having to wait five to 10 days to get appliances. It’s now 48 to 72 hours. The company is replacing 41 “outdated sites” with 10 “huge regional distribution centers.”

In one location, they wound up with 250,000 s/f of extra space by revamping the operation, which is now being leased to their suppliers.

The distribution operation is more efficient in a variety of ways, the result of taking advantage of the economic crisis to do more with less and be ready when customers start buying washing machines, dryers, refrigerators and other appliances.

While it seems that Whirlpool is positioned for the future, it would be interesting to know what other companies have been doing to reduce costs and increase efficiency. They don’t need to be big things to add up. We’re using remote capture to deposit our checks, so there’s no need to send someone to the bank. We’re also finding that using the automated attendant feature on the phone system is actually more efficient and saves money at the same time. There are others, too, that were long-overlooked were it not for the recession.