Once you have visited one of Tile Group Netherlands’ showrooms, you will never think the same about tiles again. The floor and wall elements, made from ceramic powder compacted, baked and glazed, are true designer products. Tile Group Netherlands brings them to market through the outlets of V & S Tiles, Jos Haag, Keramat and Mieloo, both to retailers as well as into the do-it-yourself business. In addition, they also design and supply floor and wall tiles to customers including Albert Heijn, McDonalds, Claudia Sträter, Audi and NH Hotels.
“We are trying to build a competitive advantage over our competitors by being better, even in stock” says Frank van der Weide, Director of Operations at Tile Group Netherlands. “Our customers increasingly want to decrease their own stocks. This means they have to have the confidence that we can supply them.”
Tile Group Netherlands found that best practice in inventory management was delivered by Slimstock, the provider of the inventory optimisation system Slim4. “Of course it took some getting used to it, for people who had been using similar methods for 20 or 30 years. But the support from Slimstock was and is excellent.”
The main reason for implementing Slim4 was to reduce working capital. The turnover of Tile Group Netherlands has increased by 100 percent since 2001. “If you maintain the same stock turn, your inventory grows by 100 percent, too.” The objective was achieved. Within six months, Tile Group Netherlands has seen its inventory reduced by 15 percent, while service levels improved from 94.5 to 97.5 percent.