McGuffie signs up Optimus inventory people

Up to 40% savings could be being made at manufacturers in all industries, of all types and sizes via automated raw materials inventory optimisation, according to specialist software developer Optimus Inventory of South Africa, which recently set up a strategic alliance with ERP developer and Oracle VAR, SSI. Now the firm’s software and services, which have already been harnessed successfully by General Motors, BMW, Toyota, Hella, Autoglass and Baxter Foods, are also available through mid market manufacturing ERP and e-business company McGuffie Brunton. McGuffie has also signed Optimus for a strategic partnership, and says it will help its Impact ERP customers “face up to a possible slowdown in orders by providing them with the opportunity of reducing their investment in inventory, while at the same time improving service levels by maximising stock availability.” Howard Joseph, McGuffie’s sales director, says: “This is a further step in our goal to provide customers with value added services that give them real and measurable returns on their investment.” Specifically, Optimus offers its Opus software and Optim ‘best practice’ methodologies, to create and manage inventory optimisation strategies, supported by Optimiza and Minimiza management decision tools. Optimiza is the top end system, designed to calculate ideal levels of safety stock on a per item or group basis, and optimal replenishment orders, taking into account demand forecasts, seasonal trends, order book and pipeline predictions, current stocks and historical performance of suppliers. Minimiza is the lower cost entry level version for companies with fewer product lines to manage. Optimus claims 40% inventory reduction and 2% increase in product availability with these measures at Autoglass, and a 20% saving in stock and an extra 5% availability for Baxters Foods. Richard Forrest, Optimus’ operations director, says: “Against the background of the risks and uncertainties of supply and demand, companies are increasingly investing in systems that will create that fine balance between having the right stock with sufficient levels to satisfy customer demand 98% of the time.”