Customers about Slimstock
Halfords increase sales
Halfords is the leading retailer of bicycles as well as car and bike accessories in the Netherlands. Their 160 outlets offer practical products and services to support all aspects of getting from A to B. Halfords Netherlands is part of the Macintosh retail Group, one of the largest non-food retailers,listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange. Willem Marcelissen, Managing Director of Halfords BV,explains how Slim4 contributed to the improvement of product availability, resulting in a significant increase in turnover.
Jongeneel increases service and reduces stock at 40 branches
High availability and very short delivery times are what set Jongeneel apart. The timber and building materials wholesaler has forty branches across the Netherlands. Managing all these locations has recently become a lot easier, thanks to Slim4. Fokke Knook, logistics manager at Jongeneel: “We never used to know how soon we needed to reorder items after selling them. Now our ordering is much calmer and more regular. We only order what we need and in optimal amounts.”
Verpa Senco’s service levels increased by 4%
SENCO is a major player in the market for industrial fastening systems. It is primarily involved in the distribution of nail, staple and screw systems, as well as an extremely broad range of complementary fastening products. The range that is offered results in the European Distribution Centre stocking approximately 12,800 different products - all of which have different characteristics. Slim4, Slimstock’s inventory optimization software, has allowed Verpa Senco to control their inventory on a high level. Erik Kuijper, Operations Director: “Buying Slim4 is something that we should have done years ago!”
Mediq manages pharmacies from one central location with Slim4
Mediq has 225 pharmacies that, until recently, independently managed their stock. That time is over. The inventory of all pharmacies is now managed by the three centrally located inventory planners. One year on from the first pharmacies being managed by Slim4 and the results speak for themselves. The stock is, on average, 10% lower in each pharmacy whilst the service levels have increased to 95%. Martin Goldschmeding, Mediq Service Manager: “Our service to our customer at the counter is considerably better now.”
The Kramp Group achieves 30% higher turnover rate
The Kramp Group operates internationally and has three business units: Kramp Agri, Kramp Industry, and Kramp Forest & Grasscare. With a turnover of 220 million euros and a thousand employees, the Kramp Group is a European leader. Kramp has 30,000 m2 of warehousing space in the Netherlands, with a range of 150,000 technical items, of which 90,000 are kept in stock. Thanks to the unique Slim4 stock management system, Kramp’s logistical performance is improving all the time. Marcel Vlogtman of Purchasing and Logistics explains why.
Focus leads to better results at Lasaulec
Since its establishment in 1947, Lasaulec B.V has been a leading technical wholesaler. “Throughout our extensive internal network, service is central. By combining our innovative logistics systems and a great tradition of flexibility, we guarantee close involvement with our customers. And part of this means that having the right inventory is crucial for us. That is why we made no concessions when it came to controlling it. Slimstock’s Slim4 gives us the control of service and capital we want”, says Anne Lourens, COO of Lasaulec.
ADN is experiencing substantial growth
From the central warehouse in Oosterhout, where 30,000 articles are kept on stock, AutoDistribution Benelux supplies car parts and accessories to numerous AD wholesalers. However, the number of affiliates will double when the new purchasing organisation logistics centre commences operations shortly. Nevertheless, ADN is convinced that deliveries will continue without any problems. This is because Slim4 has been keeping a close eye on the inventory for the last few years, making the quantity to be supplied irrelevant.
Cebeo achieves better results with less working capital
Cebeo, part of Sonepar, is the market leader in Belgium for the distribution of electro technical material. What started as a small family business, Cebeo has now become one of the biggest distributors with an annual turnover over €330 million. Due to the continuous growth it became difficult to determine the optimum balance between working capital and service levels. Their current ERP system offered insufficient flexibility to calculate the purchase advice and optimal inventory on each article level. After an extended evaluation period, the decision to select Slimstock’s Slim4 system was unanimous.
Coulisse has increased Sales by 40%
Since 1992 Coulisse has designed, produced and sold window decorations for an increasing number of international clients. It supplies an immense variety of articles - ranging from wooden to roller blinds, vertical to pleated blinds, in standard sizes and as accessories - always meeting top quality requirements. In order to support their continuous growth they are using Slim4, their ideal solution to increase product availability and reduce total inventory. Harco Evers, responsible for the inventory, immediately recognised the benefits.
Capital release for DA Retail
When Gert Bos became Logistics & ICT director at DA Retail, one of the largest pharmacists in the Netherlands, he faced an enormous challenge: Inventory availability was far too low and consequent good customer relations were at stake. Also, money for further investments in inventory was not available and operational costs were too high. Too many employees were spending too much time managing inventory and money was draining out of the business because of obsolete stock. DA was brewing a perfect storm.
Fabory improves service levels
FABORY is a multinational wholesaler of fasteners, whose strength lies in the breadth of its range. The central distribution center, located in Tilburg, holds 60,000 different nuts, bolts, screws and other fasteners in stock. In the summer of 2009 Fabory decided to implement Slim4 as their inventory management system. Supply Chain Director, Maurice Geerars: “Our managers now have time to manage all the stock within the supply chain, rather than just concentrating on the DC.”
Flowtech reduced stock by 25% without impacting service levels
Flowtech is the “Premier” catalogue provider for Fluid Power and Industrial products within the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Their business philosophy is that they want to be “Number 1 for Service”. Due to continuous growth it became difficult to determine the optimum balance between working capital and service levels. In addition, their existing systems were very manual in nature, which resulted in large numbers of man hours being spent on optimising stock, with substantial potential for error.
Lambrechts balances stocks in DC and subsidiaries
Lambrechts is a rapidly growing wholesaler of heating, renewable energy supplies, sanitary and wellness products. Since Lambrechts introduced Slim4 to optimise inventory levels, the service level has increased by more than five percent. The attention of purchasing manager Danny Dedroog is now focused on managing stock at the branches with Slim4. “The goal is to have the right stock in the right place.”
NRF increases control of supply chain
NRF is one of the leading distributors of heat exchangers and spare parts. The entire European market is supplied with radiators, oil coolers, air coolers, heaters and air conditioning parts from stock. The supply chain includes the central distribution centre in Mill, the Netherlands, and eleven subsidiary stocking locations across Europe. At the beginning of 2007, NRF decided to implement Slimstock’s Slim4 solution to support their Sales & Operations Planning (S & OP). Patrick van Hoek, Logistics Manager, was very pleased with the outcome: “We can now control the service levels.”
Slim4 - an excellent tool for PGZ International
PGZ International is an international trade and logistics group: Feeder One is a company with core activities in distribution, warehousing and billing of brands for the DIY and professional market. PGZ Retail Concepts’ core activities are: trade concepts, sourcing & fulfilment, service merchandising and space management, coverings, painting, handheld, garden and electrical tools, fixing materials and ironware. Menno Blewanus explains how the partnership with Slimstock has developed over the years.
Proost en Brandt increases Customer Service level of their core range
Proost en Brandt, a subsidiary of PaperlinX Ltd, is one of the leading full-range paper wholesalers in the Netherlands. In order to be able to deliver the right specification for the best price, they are sourcing from over 100 paper suppliers. Proost en Brandt uses Slim4 by Slimstock for their Inventory Management processes. By using Slim4 they raised the availability of their main ranges above 98%. At the same time they were able to considerably reduce their inventory.
Stork deploys working capital more efficiently
The Dutch company Stork Food Systems develops and manufactures machines for poultry processing. They have been the undisputed market leader for years and of course they aim to retain this position. In order to maintain the status quo, it was vital to achieve higher service levels over a larger product range, without the costs increasing. Jan Melssen, Senior Business Consultant at Stork is very clear on the matter: “That was the aim, and it was achieved using Slim4 by Slimstock.”
Inventory optimisation delivers space and better availability at Tile Group Netherlands
Tile Group Netherlands is the market leading supplier of tiles in the Netherlands. With six different outlet brands, the company, which is part of the Saint Gobain group, has the broadest available range. There are 4.500 different types of tiles in stock at the warehouse in Andelst. At the beginning of 2009 Tile Group Netherlands decided to invest in Slim4. Frank van der Weide, Director of Operations: “We strive for excellence in all areas of performance, including stock. Slim4 is best practice in this area.
Van Ommen increases service level and return on capital
Van Ommen, based in Apeldoorn in The Netherlands, supplies a wide range of tools for metal cutting and related products for the trade. It has done so successfully for more than 55 years and has had an average annual growth rate of 15% in recent years. In order to manage the expan- sion, Van Ommen invested in a Forecasting and Inventory Management tool. A year after imple- menting Slim4 the service level has increased from 94% to 98.5%, while total inventory has been reduced. Slim4 has helped Van Ommen gain much better control over the total purchasing and inventory management process.
Inventory optimisation provides increased customer service at Vandeputte
Thanks to the Vandeputte Group, thousands of professionals across Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Poland and France are able to carry out their jobs safely and comfortably. The company provides personal protection equipment, safety shoes and clothing as well as hearing and face protection. Vandeputte now manages 8,000 articles with Slim4, and since its introduction the stock has dropped by fifteen percent. Supply Chain Director Kristof De Coster: “We are still not as lean as we can be. We can cut out thirty percent.”
Service levels up, inventory levels down
Richard Hilton is the Buying and Marketing Manager for Tree of Life UK, the largest wholesaler and distributor of natural products to the health food trade, and a 100% subsidiary of Royal Wessanen. Using Slim4 has resulted in higher service levels, and allowed the buyers to focus on strategic purchases and promotions.
Our main objective was to improve the quality of our service
For 25 years, Nefit has been the best-selling brand of energy efficient boilers. With over 1.5 million installations, they are the uncontested market leader in the Netherlands. Nefit Buderus is a subsidiary of Bosch GmbH. Nefit first contacted Slimstock several years ago when they wanted to gain better insight into their stock of spare parts, including slow moving parts. Dick van Teeffelen, Parts Service Manager at Nefit, explains how Nefit achieved balance in their inventory using Slim4.
New customers
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