Lean web system delivers supply chain advantage at APW
1 min read
Contract electronic equipment manufacturer APW says it's achieving major supply chain efficiencies as a result of running material replenishment from engineered access hardware supplier Southco via the latter's in-house developed web-based inventory system dubbed e-Kanban.
APW is now ordering 400,000 parts per year through the system, and says it has transformed inventory management. It now carries minimal inventory, has greater stock visibility and control and no stock-outs, with zero purchase orders, minimal man hours and almost zero lead times.
The firm simply uploads its stock requirements onto Southco.com via a weblink. The e-Kanban calculator analyses Southco's inventory, lead time, demand and transit time. When stock reaches a trigger position, it automatically releases materials and sends an email to APW.
Says Richard Taylor, APW materials manager: "Previously, we used MRP. That system required a stock inventory check every six to eight weeks, which was very costly. It was beginning to cause delays in production, which in turn meant we were not always able to fulfil lead times."
That's all now history, and Taylor reckons it wasn't difficult to make the change. All system requirements were implemented at the Southco end in just half an hour, and from a business point of view it took just 10 weeks from proposal to operation.
"There was no need for us to purchase any software to install the system, and due to its simplicity no training was required," he says.
The project was initially European using APW's Galway office as the test bed. It's now been deployed to Dundee and Shanghai, with plans underway for San Diego in the US.
