National Tiles Case Study

As a trusted partner to Australia’s lifestyle industries, National Tile’s diverse client base encompasses everything from architects and interior designers to residential and commercial builders, as well as end consumers.

Highlighting the complexity this creates for the planning team, Brian Smith, General Manager – Transformation at National Tiles, explains:

“We go to great lengths to ensure our customers receive reliable and rapid delivery of their orders. However, without the right data-driven insights, high excess stock levels and costly internal stock transfers were a constant battle.”

Results

To tackle its supply chain challenges head-on, National Tiles opted for Slimstock’s award-winning platform, Slim4. By helping the business drive performance improvements throughout its end-to-end operation, the tile specialist has unlocked impactful performance improvements:

• Improved availability throughout the network
• Significant reduction in internal stock transfers, leading to substantial savings in transportation costs.
• Enhanced visibility, empowering the planning team to make more strategic supply chain decisions.

Brian Smith adds: During the selection process, Slimstock’s focus on continuously improving our processes and trying to find ways for us to outperform in our industry spoke volumes about the time and energy they were willing to invest to deliver a successful transformation. Thanks to their committed efforts throughout the implementation, we are already reaping the rewards of a fully optimised supply chain.”

Solutions

Empowering the planning team

Before adopting the Slim4 Platform, National Tiles depended on its ERP system to support its supply chain planning requirements. Brian Smith shares the limitations of this approach: “Our ERP system simply did not offer the forecasting and planning capabilities required to support the scale and complexity of our network. Consequently, we lacked the visibility to balance supply and demand dynamically throughout our network of stores and distribution centres.”

Slimstock’s supply chain planning platform now provides National Tiles with a comprehensive overview of its end-to-end network: “Slim4 is a pivotal technology in our planning team’s toolkit. With the platform’s powerful forecasting and scenario-planning capabilities, we can better analyse the data to understand our inventory requirements throughout the network. The impact on our business is huge. Our planning team now feels empowered to make better supply chain decisions.”

Reducing costly internal transfers

The improved visibility has also helped the tile specialist to fine-tune its allocation and replenishment operation.

“We often transferred stock between our various locations to keep up with shifting demand. Given the nature of our products and the geographical span of our network, the costs associated with redistributing stock are extremely high. There is also the increased risk of breakages to factor in,” explains Brian Smith.

By autonomously considering a range of parameters, including localised demand characteristics, seasonality, and product lifecycle, Slim4 has helped the planning team automate allocation and replenishment workflows to ensure the optimal inventory balance throughout the supply chain.

Brian Smith explains the impact this has had on the business: “Through helping us to achieve the right product mix at every location, we have seen a notable increase in availability. By ensuring the right stock is in the right place, we have cut the number of internal stock transfers. This has resulted in a notable decrease in transportation costs, representing a substantial return on investment for our business.”

Next steps

By leveraging Slimstock’s advanced supply chain planning platform, Slim4, National Tiles has not only streamlined its operations but has also unlocked significant cost savings and improved customer satisfaction.

Eager to drive further performance improvements, Brian Smith concludes: “Thanks to Slim4, we can put a spotlight on the areas of our business that need attention. As a result, we now have the planning foundation in place to support our growth ambitions and drive continuous improvement.”