How will a VMI program work for you?

Your VMI program will generally be defined by the constraints in your process.  These constraints can either be your Accounting system, union work force, facility location and access or any number of other issues that we are trained to deal with.  Regardless of the constraint, we can build a program that will get you product to your manufacturing floor in the most cost effective manner.

We will design a program to suit your needs and some examples are as follows:

Bin Refill Program on Site

With this type of program, we will size bins for our product that will be housed on your manufacturing floor.  Our product will be bagged to a convenient quantity for your operators and contain a bar coded label with your part number, the quantity in the bag, as well as our product lot number which give your full lot traceability on all of our parts.

We will size the bins to hold between 2-4 weeks of inventory for your operators to pull from.  We will perform audits on your bins on a regular basis and for any item where the bin is empty, we will record that part number any generate a replenishment order that will be dropped off the next time we come to do an audit at your site.

With each shipment, we will provide a packing slip of what we are delivering to Purchasing, Receiving or Accounting so they can verify what we are delivering before we put it in the bin.

Remote Bar Code Scanner System

Some customers would prefer to be involved in the process a little more than others.  For those sites, we can provide a bar code scanner that can be used when parts are removed from your inventory.  The bag is scanned and at the end of the day you put the scanner in our cradle and it uploads a replenishment order that we will ship from our closest regional warehouse.

What is in it for you?

The biggest benefit for implementing a VMI program is it eliminates a tremendous number of non-value added steps in your process which equates to huge savings for your operation and allows you to re-deploy your people in other areas to improve your operation even more.

Some of non-value added steps we can handle for you are:

-Elimination of the creation of numerous repetitive purchase orders

-Elimination of a full receiving inspection function as we perform a full first article         inspection and full lot traceability on all parts provided.

-Elimination of the processing of multiple invoices as we can consolidate billing for you.

-Elimination of the inventory planning function on low cost commodity items as you                 hand this function over to our team that is focused on just these commodities on a                daily basis

-Elimination of your sourcing efforts on these commodities as we allow you to access the          talents of our global sourcing team

-Elimination of the management of a larger vendor database as we are able to handle                such a broad product offering.

How much can I expect to my current prices to increase with a VMI program?

For most of the programs we implement, there is no additional cost adder for putting in a VMI program.  In most cases, we are able to save you money on your overall spend for these commodities with our global sourcing team that is focused on finding the best vendors that offer high quality products at very competitive prices.

In addition to the overall cost savings, we will be delivering the products to your site which eliminates the current inbound freight charges you are currently paying with your normal purchases.

What do we do when we put in a VMI program?

The prime objective when we build and implement VMI programs is to make sure we have a seamless transition in providing product to your manufacturing operation.  To achieve this goal, we do a through process review which includes:

-Performing an audit of your current production operation so we understand your    Accounting, Operations, Purchasing and Quality requirements.

- We work with you to review your products to ensure we have accurate usage numbers and a clear understanding of your product requirements, either by drawing or samples, so we can provide the most competitive pricing possible.

- Review your current inventory position with your supplier base so we can determine the proper timeframe to change over suppliers.

- We work with you to identify excess inventory from your current supplier base to find ways to move this inventory for you.

- Based on your usage, we determine bin & bag sizes to hold the right amount of inventory on the floor for your operators  and have it bagged in quantities that make it easier for them to perform.

- Work with your Quality team to understand their requirements for first article sample approval, as well as, on going production needs and certifications.

- Work with your Purchasing and Accounting teams to ensure we are providing the proper documentation in the correct process to make their jobs easier.

- Work with your Receiving team to ensure we are providing them what they need.

- Ensure that we have the proper access, security and background check data for your Operations team to effectively work within your work environment in accordance with your facility or customer requirements.

- Train your Operations team on how the program will work and provide an area for them to give us feedback on things we can improve or items they might want to add, or remove, from the program.

"We handle your fasteners so you don't have too."

Fastening Solutions

"We handle your fasteners so you don't have too."

Fastening Solutions

  A Division of Duncan Bolt