Exion

Exion Asia, a leading distributor of flow control solutions in Singapore, freed up more than $6 million in inventory just two years after implementing the Slimstock’s solution. Since 2018, accumulated savings have reached $9.7 million, strengthening the company’s liquidity and raising its service level to 96%.

Exion Asia Pte Ltd is a Singapore based company with regional market presence offers flow control solutions, across the categories of, valves, pumps, compressors, and instrumentation. Exion Asia is part of the SWTS Asia Group, a provider of comprehensive solutions in distribution, service and engineering from design to lifecycle management, our services cover installation, maintenance, repairs, spare parts, upgrades and modernisation.

Serving a wide range of industries, including oil and gas, chemicals, palm oil refining, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, marine and offshore, power plants and semiconductors, Exion Asia has been a leader in the industry for more than two decades.

As Exion Asia grew through mergers and expanded its product assortment, inventory management became increasingly complex. What was once a manageable operation gradually became a significant operational and financial risk.

Inventory planning relied heavily on spreadsheets, which limited visibility, forecast accuracy and decision-making. Despite large stock volumes, urgent shortages frequently occurred, especially during critical maintenance periods, leading to backorders and increasing pressure on both sales teams and customers.

“By 2018, inventory value had reached $16 million, driven by the accumulation of legacy stock, business expansion and a growing product portfolio. At the same time, achieving a high level of service was becoming increasingly challenging, while excess and obsolete inventory continued to tie up capital and storage space,” explains Rowena Trapal, Group Supply Chain Manager.

To compensate, Exion Asia increasingly relied on last-minute shipments from original equipment manufacturers across multiple time zones. This approach inflated logistics costs, created operational stress and exposed the business to ongoing supply chain risk.

A deliberate search for a better solution

Realising that incremental improvements would not solve the structural problems, Exion Asia embarked on a search for a robust inventory optimisation solution. In this process, the company found a true partner in Slimstock.

The solution demonstrated a fundamentally different approach: inventory decisions were based on data, service-level targets and business priorities, rather than on intuition or spreadsheet-based assumptions.

In April 2018, Exion Asia became the first company in Asia to implement Slimstock’s solution, marking an important milestone for both the organisation and the adoption of inventory optimisation in the region. “Being a pioneer not only demonstrates leadership, but also paves the way for new opportunities, showing that innovation and efficiency go hand in hand,” adds Rowena Trapal.

The solution

Slimstock enabled Exion Asia to move from reactive stock management to a structured, goal-oriented inventory strategy. Instead of maintaining high safety stock levels, inventory was aligned with clearly defined business priorities.

The Slimstock solution automated purchasing decisions, synchronising order quantities with supplier constraints and identifying the most economical purchasing opportunities, including intelligent bulk-buying recommendations.

Real-time visibility replaced fragmented spreadsheet reports. Teams gained complete transparency into inventory levels, stock status and future requirements, enabling them to make faster, more confident decisions without the need for micromanagement.

To support long-term success, the Slimstock solution was integrated into company wide ordering policies. A standardised “on-demand” process ensured consistency between sales, operations and management, significantly reducing subjective decision making.

The results

Lower inventory, higher service levels and increased cash flow

Since implementing Slim4, Slimstock’s robust inventory management and optimisation solution, Exion Asia has reduced inventory value by nearly 60%, from $16.8 million to $7.08 million, while improving service levels to 96%.

Importantly, this transformation did not come at the expense of customer satisfaction. On the contrary, improved availability of the right products at the right time reduced stockouts, minimised complaints and strengthened customer confidence.

“Reducing excess and obsolete stock freed up cash flow, allowing us to reinvest in growth initiatives and expand into foreign markets,” adds Rowena Trapal.

Strategic initiatives

Beyond implementing the system, Exion Asia complemented Slim4 with specific operational initiatives:

• Reallocation of stock between group companies to optimise demand coverage.
• Market diversification, liquidating legacy niche items through external distributors.
• Sales incentives that encourage reducing slow-moving stock.

These initiatives reinforced behavioural change and ensured that inventory optimisation became a shared responsibility across the organisation.

Embedding excellence into the culture

What began as a vision to regain control over inventory has become a quantifiable goal for the entire organisation. Inventory excellence is now embedded in Exion Asia’s culture and strategic decision-making.

With continuous improvements towards a multi-level approach, Exion Asia continues to reinforce efficiency across the group, ensuring shared benefits, long-term resilience and scalable growth.

“Inventory excellence becomes a corporate mindset that ensures every decision, investment and operation generates efficiency, resilience and sustained growth across the organisation,” concludes Rowena Trapal.