A middleman is a temporary or non-essential component of a product or system that can be easily removed. The intermediate lens can be applied in two ways:
1. Use an intermediary carrier article or an intermediary process.
ouch Set of carpenter’s nails, used between the hammer and the nail
2. Temporarily combine one object with another (that can be easily removed)
ouch Use a pot holder to bring hot dishes to the table
A consultant is an intermediary in a business environment. The consultant comes to the company to evaluate a certain aspect of the business or solve a problem and then leaves.
Chemical processes often use this principle. In some chemical reactions, a specific substance is included as an intermediate, which would otherwise be unnecessary. The new chemical, Chemical C, has the sole purpose of making the main chemicals, A and B, react faster or move the process further.
In the old days, smugglers used salt as an intermediary to hide their wares. When the smugglers received word that the authorities would come aboard the ship to search for the loot, the smugglers would place rocks of salt on top of the 55-gallon alcohol drums. They would throw the drums overboard and the salty rocks would cause the containers to sink.
When the authorities searched the ship, the contraband was gone. After a while, the salt would dissolve and the drums would rise to the surface again. The salt rocks served as an intermediary in the smuggling process; a temporary step to improve the final result.
Middlemen are even finding their way into the legal system. Mediators are quite popular these days in divorce court. Instead of fighting courtroom battles with expensive attorneys and legal fees, couples hire a mediator to help resolve issues before the parties appear before a judge. Mediation is big business in today’s divorce-happy society.
Give ’em a piece of the action
Sometimes an intermediary is necessary to make a project come true. When I worked for Parker Hannifin, we built hydraulic flight actuators for almost every commercial aircraft in the world. In fact, Boeing builds the planes, and Parker Hannifin was subcontracted by Boeing to build the actuators. Unfortunately, Japanese Airlines would not give Boeing the contract to build planes for them unless at least one company in Japan got a piece of the action.
So, we came up with a crazy plan to avoid this requirement. We still built the hydraulic actuators at Parker-Hannifin, but we shipped the actuators, with a part tag, to a Japanese company. When the product arrived in Japan, all the company had to do was stick the label onto the actuator, using a glue kit we provided. The company marked the product with a percentage to make a profit, then shipped the actuator back to Boeing.
We did all the work and then we let the Japanese company do 30 seconds of work to stick the label. This additional, though seemingly unnecessary, intermediate step allowed us to say that a Japanese company was included in the process. As a result, the Japanese airlines agreed to a purchase contract with Boeing.
Boeing was happy to pay the additional shipping costs and markup; after all, the extra money was a drop in the bucket compared to the profit from the contract.
It’s funny what you’ll do to get the job done, isn’t it?
Can you improve your product or business by adding an intermediary?