VDL Parts

In the automotive sector, the ability to provide spare parts on time is essential as deliver delays can lead to vehicles being out of action, incurring high costs. To enhance VDL inventory management process, the company decided to implement Slimstock’s award-winning platform—a choice that has significantly impacted both efficiency and results.

As part of the VDL Group, VDL Parts specialises in the sales and supply of a wide range of components, from engine parts to chassis and bodywork elements, for numerous bus operators across Europe. Many customers rely on the expertise and product portfolio of VDL Parts. The scale of operations becomes evident when stepping into VDL Parts’ warehouse in Veldhoven, which houses over 35,000 SKUs ready for dispatch when needed.

Ensuring Service Level Control

In the automotive world, availability is everything, and customers cannot afford to be left waiting. Orders received by VDL Parts before 4:00 pm are picked and delivered across almost all of Europe on the same day. Delays in workshops cost money, making delivery performance and service level critical. With multiple sales channels offering spare parts, maintaining control over inventory management is crucial—but this proved easier said than done.

For years, the spare parts giant relied on SAP and Excel. While these systems provided some “Slimstock-like reporting,” they fell short of meeting the demands of the company’s growth, explains Michiel van Heukelom, Supply Chain Manager at VDL Parts.

“Our inventory management was conducted at the item level, making it very difficult to manage by product group or across the entire inventory. Inventory levels and associated service levels were the result of individual item-level decisions, which made overall control nearly impossible. Given that we often have contractual agreements with customers, maintaining control is essential. The emphasis has always been on service level rather than inventory levels, leading to excessive stock. The uncertainty in supply chains since the COVID-19 crisis has also played a role, with suppliers being less reliable and lead times longer than before.”

Why Slimstock?

Managing inventory became increasingly challenging due to growing revenue and an expanding product range. This prompted VDL Parts to investigate its pain points internally.

“We reviewed our product range and discovered that only 10% of our assortment follows a regular pattern, while 90% is irregular—a typical characteristic of the automotive aftermarket. With Excel, you’re primarily working with averages, which doesn’t work optimally for our assortment. We had known about Slimstock for some time, so we began discussions about a potential solution. Now that we’ve been using Slim4 for a while, we can already see its impact in our performance metrics.”

Significant Increase in Inventory Turnover

Van Heukelom supports his observations with several graphs: “Since implementing the supply chain platform, we’ve achieved significant results. Over the past year, we’ve increased revenue while reducing inventory value and maintaining the same service level. But the clearest indicator is the sharp rise in inventory turnover,” he says.

“We’ve only been using Slim4 for nine months, and our inventory turnover has already increased by 10%.”

The implementation of Slim4 represents a major step forward for VDL Parts, moving from operational-tactical inventory management to tactical-strategic inventory management. “Thanks to Slim4’s we now have a clear categorisation of our product range. We know which products are most important, and it requires far less manual effort. Slimstock evaluates every item, every day. At this point, we no longer actively manage 70% of our range because we trust Slimstock to do it for us.”

Scalability: Key to the Future

The ability to connect new locations and businesses to the platform is also of crucial value to VDL Parts, according to Van Heukelom. For example, VDL Parts recently joined forces with its sister company, VDL Weweler Parts, which will soon also adopt Slimstock’s supply chain platform. VDL Parts uses SAP as its ERP system, while Weweler Parts uses Exact.

“VDL Group operates multiple companies, each with its own systems and requirements. Slimstock gives us the ability to integrate inventory management across these businesses. The scalability of the platform was a key argument for us. Looking ahead, Slim4 will be a vital link in our operations.”