Grainger adds vendor-managed inventory services to line-up
New value-added service provides options to MRO buyers.
By Susan Avery -- Purchasing, 4/10/2008 2:00:00 AM
Grainger developed its Inventory Solutions Service to reduce cost and improve productivity. The new value-added service provides two options to MRO buyers: The first is managed by the customer; the second, by the distributor.
With the first option, Grainger provides the customer with tools to manage inventory. "We find that while customers have good intentions, they don't always have the systems to be able to manage indirect materials effectively," says Don Scheibenreif, director of strategic marketing, Industrial Supply Division, W.W. Grainger in Lake Forest, Ill. "So we give them a software package, a scanner and a label printer that enables them to categorize all their products, label them and establish parameters for restocking or refilling."
For the second option, Grainger personnel arrive onsite and do the work for the customer. They collect data on products the customer uses. If Grainger doesn't sell the products, it will cross reference the data with products it does sell and provide the information to the customer.
The distributor finds that customers use about 40% of the items daily. Another 30% are used occasionally. Grainger refers to these as "unplanned" items. The distributor recommends the customer not stock the remaining 30% at all.
The customer chooses which items to carry. "We inventory the items, generate the labels and organize the tool crib or stock room, establishing minimum and maximum quantities," says Scheibenreif. "So when, for example, a supply of bolts runs low, we know what to order." With the software, customers approve orders, monitor usage and generate reports.
Scheibenreif says that it's too soon to estimate cost savings for customers resulting from implementing the service.
See also: Grainger announces largest product expansion in its history
Grainger market expansion hits Pittsburgh
12/05/2007
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