STRENGTHEN LEAD TIMES IN BUILDING MATERIALS AND HVAC

HOW TO KEEP LEAD TIMES CONSISTENT AND KEEP CUSTOMERS HAPPY A successful supply chain requires the coordinated efforts of multiple teams around the globe. In addition to recurring challenges such as shifting international trade agreements or Chinese New Year, there are also unexpected events that can have rapid, worldwide effects like the COVID-19 epidemic.   Building materials

Slimstock MEA wins award!

MEA Markets Magazine Announces Winners of the 2019 UAE Business Awards. Slimstock among the winners! Slimstock Middle East & Africa has been awarded Best Inventory Optimisation Solutions Provider 2019 by MEA Markets Magazine. These awards highlight the key players and innovators across a myriad of sectors from one of the most affluent and influential business

Carrefour improves on-shelf availability by 7%

With more than 600 stores in Turkey, food retailer, Carrefour SA regularly struggled with out of stock situations. One of the biggest problems was that the retailer’s inventory management activities relied heavily on the knowledge and experience of the inventory planners, who are moreover in very short supply in Turkey. Thanks to Slim4, Carrefour SA

“A customer needs to have a clear vision of the goals they want to achieve with their business”

Ruben Zomerdijk sat down to discuss his new role at Slimstock, life in Dubai and thoughts on the Middle East and Africa region... When did you join the Slimstock Middle East & Africa team? I joined Slimstock on August 1st 2018, but moved from The Netherlands to Dubai at the beginning of October. During the

Sephora evolves with Slim4 to sustain growth in the region

The French perfume and cosmetics retailer, Sephora, will implement Slim4 in the United Arab Emirates. “We must increase in-store availability to 99% while achieving a supply chain reduction of 25%,” stated head of supply chain, Sandeep Walia in an interview with the Logistics Middle East magazine. The French-owned business is active in 33 countries and

Supply chain projects 2018: Shred your obsolete stock!

As we embark upon the new year, no doubt many of us are carrying a few extra pounds. The same holds true for businesses: there is always scope to trim down the excess inventory. Holding high levels of obsolete stock is bad for business. However, removing these items from your operation is often easier said

“There’s so much more to gain from Slim4”

Slimstock ask Nick Brouwer, team leader Supply Chain and user of Slim4 at the Nedac Sorbo Group, five questions: What's his role? What does he do on a normal day and what impact has Slim4 had on the business? What's his biggest challenge at the moment? And what are his ambitions for the future? What

The secret to better forecasting?… it’s classified…

Deciding the right balance and assortment of stock-keeping units across multiple warehouses can be a bewildering task. Regularly monitoring and planning the correct level of inventory across tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of items without the right tool is enough to make even the best of supply managers capitulate. Adding the difficult

“Slim4 gives us much greater transparency over our stock usage” Sappi Europe

With 7 mills, 14 sales offices and 5,100 employees, Sappi Europe is the leading producer of coated fine paper and also a successful example of a Slim4 customer. We ask Peter Conings, Inventory Manager at Sappi, to describe a typical working day, his main responsibilities, and his experience with Slim4 and his aspirations for the future.

Playtime is over: time for retailers to get serious about Omni-channel

One of the world’s largest retail chains of Toy shops made headlines last month as the North American arm of its global operation filed for bankruptcy. While the news came as a surprise to many, the business in question did not fail because consumers had stopped buying toys. Given that global sales of Toys and

Slimstock launches regional office in Dubai

In order to provide customers in the United Arab Emirates with the best possible service, Slimstock has opened a regional office in Dubai. "This new location is the ideal hub for us to serve countries across the Middle Eastern and African region with our inventory optimisation solution," says CEO Eric van Dijk. “We see a

Rolf Aksglaede: Why did you decide to join Slimstock?

As Europe's leading inventory management specialist, Slimstock places a huge focus on developing up and coming talent: a key part of which is the company's Young Professionals Programme. This intensive development scheme is designed to help young professionals gain exposure to the real-life challenges that supply chain industry professionals are faced with on a daily

Young Professionals: “Every day is different at Slimstock “

As Europe's leading inventory management specialist, Slimstock places a huge focus on developing up and coming talent: a key part of which is the company's Young Professionals Programme. This intensive development scheme is designed to help young professionals gain exposure to the real-life challenges that supply chain industry professionals are faced with on a daily

“Slimstock has always provided me all the support I require to advance within my role.”

As Europe's leading inventory management specialist, Slimstock' supply chain positions place a huge focus on developing up and coming talent: a key part of which is the company's Young Professionals Programme. This intensive development scheme is designed to help young professionals gain exposure to the real-life challenges that supply chain industry professionals are faced with

How can you construct a more robust forecast?

Businesses in the building trade typically rely on a global network of suppliers to satisfy the needs of their customers. Consequently, lengthy lead times of up to several months are the norm for businesses in this sector. As a result, suppliers and distributors of building materials depend upon accurate long-range demand forecasts in order to

George East set a new benchmark

The business behind some of Britain’s leading kitchenware brands including Tala and ChefAid, has established a new benchmark by which all future supply chain projects will be judged.

Roper Rhodes set to bathe in supply chain success with Slimstock

To help maintain and improve their market leading availability across their stylish range of bathroom furniture products, Roper Rhodes has taken a major step towards bolstering their position as the UK’s favourite independent bathroom specialist. Following the decision to partner with Slimstock, the bathroom specialist will utilise the inventory management expert’s supply chain solution, Slim4,

Slimstock Academy takes Moonen Packaging to the next level

Over the last 12 months, the supply chain department at packaging wholesaler, Moonen Packaging, has recently completed one of Slimstock's inventory management training programs with the Slimstock Academy. Through undertaking a range of in-house inventory management training programs as well as playing the supply chain game, awareness and knowledge of inventory management have greatly improved

Logistics service provider optimises replenishment of T-Mobile stores

VCK Logistics, together with T-Mobile and Slimstock, will conduct a pilot in which the logistics service provider, VCK, will utilise Slimstock’s inventory optimisation solution, Slim4 to optimise the replenishment of 122 T-Mobile stores. The aim of the pilot is to increase in-store availability while simultaneously reducing inventory costs. The partnership was announced at the National

Stena Line chooses Slim4 for inventory management

One of the world’s leading ferry operators Stena Line has decided to implement Slimstock's inventory optimisation solution, Slim4, to optimise the inventory of its central DC in Malmö. Onboard stores, restaurants and bars for more than 40 vessels are replenished from this DC and four regional DC's. Stena Line provides ferry transportation services on its

Drive Products replaced popular software with Slim4

Since 1983, Drive Products has supplied truck mounted equipment for commercial vehicles from operations across Canada. By replacing their existing planning tools with Slimstock’s software, Slim4, they immediately realized inventory could be further reduced by $6Million, and the end is not in sight. Drive Products is the country’s leading integrator for commercial vehicles. Next to sourcing

Implement Slim4 before or after your new ERP is operational?

Upgrading an ERP system requires a huge amount of time and effort from everyone across the organisation. Thus, it may seem like a strange time to be thinking about bolting-on additional solutions. However, when you consider that implementing a new ERP could take over 18 months to complete, a period which is likely to be

Carrefour controls the replenishment with Slim4

The Turkish branch of the Carrefour supermarket chain, Carrefour S.A., has recently implemented Slimstock's inventory management solution, Slim4, to optimise inventory across all of their stores. With 6 DCs and 630 stores located across Turkey, Slim4 optimises both the inventory at the central distribution centres as well the replenishment of the stores. From major hyper

AUTONET increases availability by 7% amidst growth

AUTONET Group is one of the most prominent suppliers within the auto repair segment in the Central and Eastern European region. Founded in 1996, the company now supplies customers in 3 countries (Romania, Hungary and Slovenia). With over 160,000 articles delivered from stock across a network of 5 distribution centers and over 70 shops, customer

Why do service levels have a powerful impact on profitability?

"I need a 100% service level" – a typical expectation of both management and commercial departments. Purchasing & operational divisions however, have a much better understanding of service levels and appreciate that attaining 100% is a utopia. In practice, determining an appropriate service level is an extremely complicated undertaking. Service level optimisation For many businesses,

Automotive update: “Now is the time to drive improvements across your supply chain”

Extreme volatility in demand, spiralling product ranges and increasingly lengthy lead times were all hot topics at this year’s Automechanika Birmingham event. However, in today’s uncertain business environment, maintaining the consistently high levels of availability that consumers demand, was undoubtedly seen as one of the most pressing challenges businesses across the automotive industry face. The

Retailers: Don’t get burnt by the summer surge!

If you look outside your window, you might be surprised to discover that summer has already officially begun. However, retailers should not be put off by the recent wintery weather: according to new research , up to 70% of retailers enjoy double digit growth during the summer months as the better weather forces shoppers out of hibernation.

Demand planning is more than just child’s play

The Times revealed that demand for toys is booming. However, it seems children are not the only ones getting in on the action: the so-called “kidult” sector, adults that buy children’s toys for their own personal use, is set to grow at three times the pace of the rest of the market! Given the growing

“Our inventory goals have become far more achievable”

Slimstock ask Patrik Ohm, Purchasing & Inventory Management at Andreas Paulsen GmbH, five questions: What's his role? What does he do on a normal day and what impact has Slim4 had on the business? What's his biggest challenge at the moment? And what are his ambitions for the future? What is your role within the

Q&A: investment in safety stocks worth its money?

Something unexpected could always happen and customers never buy exactly what we expect. For instance, some customers buy more, some buy less, some switch to other products while other customers are completely new to us. As a result, when forecasting demand, there is always a degree of uncertainty. To manage this ambiguity, you have to

What a lovely long tail you have

If you look at businesses like Alibaba, Amazon or even your local super market, it seems that the-sky-is-the-limit when it comes to assortments. While offering literally millions of different products undoubtedly gives customers plenty of choice, keeping up with these exploding ranges can prove a constant battle. In pursuit of a unique selling point, many

“Slimstock could offer me the scope I needed to succeed.”

As Europe's leading inventory management specialist, Slimstock places a huge focus on developing up and coming talent: a key part of which is the company's Young Professionals Programme. This intensive development programme is designed to help young professionals gain exposure to the real life industry challenges that supply chain professionals are faced with on a

From a supply chain analyst at Slimstock

Since the start of 2015, over 20 professionals from ten different countries have joined the team at Slimstock. As more and more businesses turn to the inventory optimisation specialist to help improve the performance of their supply chain operations, Slimstock is now looking to hire even more people. Since joining the team in December 2014,

Better product lifecycle management

Do you have enough stock to meet demand after a product launch? Can you scale up fast enough? How do you react if the new product is not a success? How do you know when the product is becoming obsolete? Can you avoid obsolescence? Companies can make a lot of money through effective product lifecycle

The launch of a new office in Singapore

Following a number of interesting developments, Eric van Dijk, CEO at Slimstock, looks back on a great first quarter. Eric has been in Singapore this month, preparing for the launch of the first subsidiary in South East Asia: "It is extremely exciting that with launch of this new office, Slimstock will be truly able to

Retailers, the time for change is now

One of Slimstock's Retail experts, Stefan Kooijmans, acknowledges that retailers across Europe, North America and South America struggle with the same issues; fierce competition, increasing price sensitivity due to growing transparency and pressure to shift to a Omni-channel retailing model. "Retailers need to make difficult decisions when it comes to Omni-channel retailing, but they often

“I’m in between conflicting interests. That makes it fun.”

Slimstock ask Charles van Oort, supply chain coordinator and user of Slim4 at retail chain Blokker, five questions: What's his role? What does he do on a normal day and what impact has Slim4 had on the business? What's his biggest challenge at the moment? And what are his ambitions for the future? What is

Our debut on Gartner’s Magic Quadrant

Following the growth we have experienced in recent years across Europe and the Americas, we are now officially recognized by the renowned analyst firm Gartner. In their famous Magic Quadrant research, in which they compare supply chain planning software vendors, Slimstock is recognized as a vendor that offers an above-average level of customer satisfaction. It's

Working capital reduction | success factors, possibilities, and benefits

Working capital management is all about reducing cash-to-cash cycles have to be shortened. For this reason Logistics has to release the working capital that is tied up in inventory. However, lower inventories directly affect the delivery performance. This is always a complication! By Walther Ploos van Amstel Inventories are the result of balancing the customer