Case Study
Advanced Logistics
Leading manufacturer of medical diagnostic imaging devices.
Challenge
Increase visibility to our daily MRP data and production forecasts. Transfer additional material management responsibilities to key suppliers.
Goals
- Eliminate the need to manage inventory levels and deliveries
- Transition period 4-6 weeks
- Improve yearly inventory turns from 3 times per year
- Reduce work load on purchasing department
- Move planning responsibility to Telcon
- Only material consumed by customer would be shipped by Telcon
- Reduce inventory by only receiving what is needed
Results
- Successful transition of inventory management to Telcon
- Transition period took less than 6 weeks
- Inventory turns now 10+ times per year
- Telcon only delivers material to replenish what is consumed
- Procurement personnel reallocated to higher priority tasks
- No more rescheduling of purchase orders
Customer Testimonial
"We were in the process of phasing out our old product and introducing what would become several new product lines. Our inventory turns were in the range of 2-3 times per year and inventory was extremely high. There was no plan to increase headcount in the purchasing department. Even though I knew we had an excellent purchasing staff, I felt that we needed to move more of the planning responsibilities to our key suppliers.
We opted to go with a portal based min/max system that would enable suppliers to see our inventory and consumption on a daily basis as well as forecasted requirements going forward. We needed buy in from our key suppliers. The delivery of quality product on time was critical to the success of the new program. We had new products, new management and a directive to become a leaner, result driven organization.
Telcon did a great job working with us and made the transition with no problems. As one of the initial suppliers chosen to pilot the system, they were instrumental in getting the program off the ground. They continue to be one of our most reliable suppliers. Managing their account requires minimal resources. We have improved inventory turns from around 2-3 times to over 10 times. We did not increase purchasing headcount even with a 5 times increase in units shipped. We no longer spend countless hours rescheduling purchase orders or revising delivery schedules. Telcon sees and reacts to the data immediately, and communication from them remains excellent."