Springpack set the foundation for a more sustainable supply chain

For over 45 years, Springpack has helped its customers to build a cost-effective and efficient packaging operation. To strengthen the business’ industry-leading service standards and underpin continued innovation, the packaging specialist embarked upon a business-wide initiative to optimise supply chain processes.

Focused on increasing supply chain visibility and simplifying the ordering process, the team at Springpack took the strategic decision to partner with Slimstock.

Emphasising the importance of the project, James York, Sales Director at Springpack adds: “As a crucial part of our customers’ distribution and shipping process, it is vital we have the right stock to fulfil their packaging requirements.”

CHALLENGE

As a trusted partner to manufacturers and distributors, Springpack goes to great lengths to guarantee flawless reliability: “Many of our customers depend on us to fulfil their packaging orders on a ‘just-in-time’ basis. Therefore, to remain responsive to our customer’s needs, we were holding up to 9 months of inventory at any given time.”

To underpin the business’ sustainability commitment to improve its carbon footprint and reduce waste, improving resource efficiency was high on the agenda for Springpack. By cutting excess stock, the business also wanted to unlock working capital to accelerate the development of more eco-friendly products.

“We needed to adopt more lean practices across our supply chain to achieve our service and sustainability improvement goals,” states James.

WHY SLIMSTOCK?

To help the business optimise inventory levels across the extensive product range, Springpack identified the need for a dynamic planning tool. “Inventory impacts many teams across our business. Therefore, it was also important that we found a hands-on partner who could engage our entire organisation.”

James continues: “I had experienced the benefits of Slimstock’s solution first-hand in my previous company. Given the essential role Slim4 had played in attaining consistently high levels of availability there, it was clear that the inventory tool would offer great value here at Springpack.”

ENHANCED COLLABORATION

ENHANCED COLLABORATION
The inventory was previously managed using a combination of spreadsheets along with the ERP system. However, as the assortment grew, determining the right level of inventory for every product was becoming an increasingly time-consuming task.

To help streamline inventory processes, Slimstock’s consultants led several workshops during the implementation of Slim4. “By bringing people together from sales, marketing and purchasing, these interactive sessions were a great way to explore our existing supply chain processes and identify areas for improvement,” states James.

Highlighting how the implementation enabled more collaborative discussions around inventory, James goes on to share: “We now have a better understanding of how events such as onboarding a new customer or launching a new product impact our supply chain. As a result, we can work together to attain the optimal level of inventory.”

FAST RESULTS

As part of the implementation, Slimstock’s project team worked closely with Springpack to fine-tune the configuration of Slim4 around the nuances of the business. “Slimstock’s personal approach to both the software delivery and the comprehensive user training ensured the seamless adoption of the new planning tool,” adds the Sales Director.

By focusing on the most impactful suppliers first, the newly formed planning team were able to quickly adopt a more strategic approach to inventory management.

James goes on to state: “Although we are only at the start of our optimisation journey, are already starting to focus our attention on those products that matter most to our customers. With the insight provided by Slim4, our team can now make far more tactical purchasing decisions.”

NEXT STEPS

Now, Slim4 is fully implemented, James and his team are continuing to refine supply chain processes.

Extremely pleased with the progress so far, James concludes: “We can’t praise Slimstock enough; delivering a major project like this in the middle of a global pandemic is a huge achievement. As we look towards the future, we are excited to unlock further operational improvements.”