Slimstock and Flauraud build a winning partnership

Since its inception in 1932, the Flauraud Group has evolved to become a major player in the European automotive aftermarket market. Specialized in the distribution of parts and services to professionals.

With a complete logistical operation, Flauraud boasts total coverage of the French market. Thanks to its network of stores and its national platform, the businesses distribute over 2 million product lines including its own branded products.

Claire Charbonnel, Supply Chain Director explains: “For many years. Flauraud has undertaken many projects to improve and therefore further exceed the expectations of customers. One of these projects was the implementation of Slim4, the complete tool for forecasting and inventory optimisation. By working with experts in the field inventory management with extensive knowledge of the automotive distribution industry, we hope to achieve our objective of reducing inventory.”

Fast results:

• Improved availability from 95% to 98% on keylines
• Stock reduction of €1 million
• Greater control over the product assortment

Flauraud improves product availability

The results are undeniable. Flauraud is now able to offer its stores a service rate of over 98% on key articles. “The decision to integrate Slim4 into our ERP provided us with global visibility and control across all of our supply chain flows. The tool offers a range of functionality including seasonality detection at an item level, item groups or even at a store level; something which is critical in our business sector.”

Claire goes on to add: “Our workload is now prioritised thanks to Slim4’s expectation-based alerts.  With millions of items to process, this time saving is critical.”

Clear vision and better decision making

With an extensive range of products that continues to grow, Flauraud was able to obtain a clearer view of its assortment and better manage the erratic demand thanks to Slim4. As a result, product obsolescence was significantly reduced: “In our business, it is important to properly manage erratic articles. For this reason, our continued collaboration with Slimstock will allow us to optimize our storage policy.”

Claire adds: “On the one hand, Slim4 allows us to focus our time that on the most important tasks. On the other, the simulation functionalist within Slim4 allows us to explore new ways to improve efficiency.”

For Flauraud, the goal remains Customer satisfaction, availability of products as well as the promise of short delivery times. Claire concludes: “Thanks to Slim4, the management of our product portfolio has improved. Therefore, we can better meet the needs of our customers while keeping our inventory levels under control.”