A leading Canadian innovator in the design and manufacture of safety gloves was growing and planning on significantly greater growth over the next several years. The management tools and processes in place needed to mature to support the business’ changing needs.
An assessment identified the following themes of opportunity:
- Demand planning lacks systematic input from the Sales organization, resulting in poor forecasting and inventory in balances
- Interdepartmental communication lacked structure, resulting in friction between teams
- Planning parameters were not aligned with the run strategy of the plants
Carpedia was engaged to refine the Inventory Management framework, create a Vendor Management & New Product Development program, and establish a Sales & Operations process.
Carpedia’s engagement focused on designing a framework of system, process, and behavior changesthat would improve communication and access to information for decision making.
Key changes included:
- Adjusting safety stock levels to account for variation in lead time and demand
- Formalizing inventory review processes to reduce Excess & Obsolete
- Incorporating New Product and market assumptions from Sales into the planning cycle
- Designing and implementing inventory and forecasting tools, bringing visibility to at-risk SKUs
- Developing databases and dashboards to manage vendor performance
- Creating Category Specialist roles to manage segments and strategically grow
The Results
- New processes that allowed the organization to expand their footprint
- New inventory management practices that reduced inventory costs associated with E&O
- Financial savings generated through resourcing select styles to other vendors
- Improved forecasting and planning
- Improved order fulfillment
- Improved management skill
- Improved inter-departmental communication
