Helen Mason

Supply Chain Manager | Epwin

"Looking back, it would have been great to have had a supply chain solution like Slimstock ten years ago."

Epwin Window Systems, the leading UK-based manufacturer and supplier of energy efficient windows, doors and fascia systems, has embraced Slimstock’s AI-powered supply chain planning platform to enhance visibility, resilience and service.

Challenges

In the wake of a surge in home renovations, Epwin saw a huge spike in sales for aluminium and PVC-U doors and windows. Faced with a challenging economic climate in more recent times, growth in the construction industry has slowed. To stay one step ahead of ever-evolving industry challenges, Epwin initiated a programme to overhaul its supply chain systems and processes.

“The main limitations in our spreadsheet-based systems revolved around supply chain planning,” reveals Helen Mason, Supply Chain Manager at Epwin. “Because we relied heavily on manual input, the system was open to errors and risk. Consequently, we were left exposed to disruption. Increasing automation and efficiency throughout our supply chain operation became imperative.”

Results

By adopting Slimstock’s supply chain planning platform, Epwin has achieved impressive results:

  • Reduced excess inventory, increasing stock turn and unlocking working capital
  • Improved intelligence around inventory, availability and supplier performance, empowering more effective internal collaboration
  • Better forward visibility resulting in enhanced service to customers

“Slimstock has replaced every process, workflow and best practice that was previously held either in my head or in a spreadsheet,” Helen explains. “We’ve now got some amazing reporting within Slimstock’s platform, which we can share with suppliers to facilitate collaboration. Its intuitive dashboards make our data easier to understand and interrogate, which means we can quickly get to the bottom of operational issues and swiftly put in place corrective actions.”

Solutions

Supporting Epwin-isms

Helen highlights how Slimstock has helped manage what she calls “Epwin-isms”. These involve the specific and nuanced ways the business manages certain suppliers, product categories and processes across its supply chain.

“We took some convincing that enlisting a system to support this would bring value,” she explains. “However, Slimstock’s understanding of our business and ability to fine-tune the platform to support the way we work, was impressive and turned this perception on its head. For example, being able to link projects with item supersessions, optimise supplier minimum order values, and generally align with the way we work was invaluable.”

“The dashboards are easy to work with and allow us to forecast at a SKU, category or supplier level. This visibility has enabled us to foresee stock-outs and enhance customer service. With actionable intelligence at our disposal, the team can now focus on capitalising on demand rather than just react to it,” adds Helen.

Next steps

Epwin’s supply chain priorities for the next five years involve maintaining the high levels of service that Epwin is renowned for and ensuring a flexible supply chain which is agile enough to cope with fluctuating demand, new customer mobilisations and market volatility.

“Looking back, it would have been great to have had a supply chain solution like Slimstock ten years ago. It’s so easy to navigate, and I recommend it to anyone looking to bring automation and intelligence to their supply chain operations,” Helen concludes.