Looking for Cost Cuts in Lots of New Places - WSJ.com

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When it comes to cutting costs during tough economic times, many small businesses start out with a disadvantage: They don't have all that many costs to cut. Even during good times, small businesses tend to keep expenses pretty tight.

The result is that small companies often have to get creative in their efforts to find waste in places where little exists.

Here's a look at four companies that have cut their overhead expenses without sacrificing inventory, daily necessities or their employees:

Tracking the Trucks

Kenneth Bravmann, an operations consultant at Marjam Supply Co., knew the building-supply company was wasting money on gas and losing efficiency when drivers got lost. And he found out just how much after the company installed Global Positioning System equipment in most of its 165 flatbed trucks, which haul supplies to construction sites.

The Brooklyn, N.Y., company began installing the equipment about 18 months ago, and executives quickly realized wrong turns weren't the only money wasters. "Now we know where our trucks are," Mr. Bravmann says, "and we make sure [drivers] aren't going out of route or stopping at home [or] at their girlfriend's place." In the early days, about 15% of the truck drivers had to be reprimanded for driving off route.

Drivers now are more efficient -- and even more cautious since the system also transmits the trucks' speed. A dispatcher monitors the trucks' locations and time spent at each stop. And the GPS boxes transmit whether a truck is sitting idle, which wastes fuel and is illegal in some localities.

Some drivers griped. "They took it as Big Brother" watching, Mr. Bravmann says, but all the drivers appreciate having the system when they get lost.

Each GPS device costs $450 to $600, plus $100 for installation. The subscription fee is $26 per ...

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