Contact Information: Contact: Brian Lindner Datalliance 513-791-7272
Heavy Duty Industry Distributor Improves Bottom Line Results With Datalliance Vendor Managed Inventory
Kroeger Equipment and Supply Company Partners With Key Supplier to Increase Sales, Reduce Inventory, Increase Inventory Turns, and Improve Efficiency
| Source: Datalliance
CINCINNATI, OH--(Marketwire - February 4, 2010) - Datalliance today announced that Kroeger
Equipment and Supply Company, one of the largest aftermarket parts
distributors in California, has partnered with Velvac, one of their key
suppliers, to implement Datalliance Vendor Managed Inventory. Kroeger
has realized increased sales, reduced inventory, increased inventory turns,
and improved process efficiency as a result of participating in Velvac's
VMI program. The complete case study article can be viewed at
http://www.datalliance.com/wpandarticles.html.
Velvac supplies Kroeger with a large number of brass parts and products.
Bill Lawhead, Kroeger Corporate Purchasing Manager described their ordering
process prior to implementing VMI. "There are over 300 individual line
items that we reviewed weekly to determine what we needed to order. We
spent a lot of time evaluating the past week's demand and current inventory
to determine what parts to order and in what quantities. We didn't always
have a clear picture of end customer demand, as we were looking at history
and not necessarily anticipating future demand. Sometimes, we were ordering
too much of some items and not enough of others."
"From a business perspective, our challenge was to maintain a high level of
customer service, but manage our replenishment processes and inventories as
cost-effectively as possible," stated Lawhead. "Customer service is a
given for us, though the efficiency of our process has a major impact on
our profitability. When our customers need a part, no matter what the part
might be, they expect us to have it in stock."
"Vendor Managed
Inventory has reduced our replenishment process time by 75-80%," stated
Lawhead. "We are much more efficient -- our buyers can now work on more
value added activities. Velvac's VMI program has also made it much easier
to do business with them." In addition to process improvements and time
efficiencies, Kroeger has also realized bottom line business results. "Our
business results are pretty impressive," explained Lawhead. "We increased
sales 19%, reduced inventory 34%, and increased turns by 73%. The result
was a 10% increase in profits on our Velvac product line, while at the same
time achieving a 99% in stock or customer service performance. Every one of
these is an important metric for our business. The combination of these
positive results also shows that we are better aligned with end customer
demand, are moving more products, and are doing so more profitably."
Lawhead concluded, "Our attempts at VMI with other suppliers required a lot
more effort on our end, were not as easy to implement, and in the end just
not as successful, Datalliance got our data loaded, and we were up and
running in minimal time. We now have a much stronger relationship with
Velvac with more trust and collaboration on both sides. Velvac really
'gets it' when it comes to working with their distributors. Velvac's VMI
program makes them easy to work with and provides us with business benefits
that help our bottom line."
About Datalliance
Datalliance is a leading provider of collaborative commerce services, and
the world's largest independent VMI service provider. Delivered via the
Internet using the 'Software as a Service' (SaaS) model, Datalliance
solutions make it easy for suppliers and their customers to establish sales
and inventory management relationships that fully align business
objectives, improve collaboration, and streamline supply chain operations.
Datalliance manages billions of dollars in orders, millions of SKUs, and
thousands of locations for leading Fortune 1000 companies in a number of
industries. For more information about Datalliance, visit
www.datalliance.com.