 CHICAGO -- Inventory management is an issue on which success or failure can hinge. R.L. Polk & Co. recognizes this, as this year’s Polk Inventory Efficiency Award was given to distributor Uni-Select USA and belt manufacturer Gates Corp.
The award, announced at this year’s Global Automotive Aftermarket Symposium (GAAS), was handed out by Stephen Polk, chairman, president and CEO of R.L. Polk & Co., along with VP Mark Seng. Polk says this was one of the most difficult years in selecting a winner due to the quality of submissions. Each year, the Polk Inventory Efficiency Award is given to one manufacturer and one distributor. Uni-Select developed E-Modeling Tool, an online inventory management system, which helps the end-user make inventory decisions based on individual markets, according to Brent Windom, VP of North American Marketing and Product Management. “Management of inventory is the biggest challenge that we and our customers face today,” says Jim Buzzard, executive vice president of Uni-Select USA. “Because of the proliferation of parts, and the proliferation of vehicles coming into the aftermarket, managing that asset is a tremendous challenge for our customers and ourselves, so this tool has been a tremendous benefit for us and for our customers.” The tool was developed in 2006 and deployed at the store level last year. By the end of last year, there were more than 7,800 line updates across 45 product categories, which led to the identification of $7.8 million in new product and $13 million in product returns. Selling points for the application include an ease of use, Web-based 24/7 accessibility, use of store system data, dynamic calculations and an online system of ordering and returns. For Gates, its Demand Flow system has reduced inventory by 50 percent on a unit basis over the past year and a half, says Jim Magill, senior vice president for Gates Global Supply Chain. He adds that Demand Flow has positively impacted working capital and helped drive a lean manufacturing environment. The program also helps distributors pinpoint actual demand and plan for known events that are coming up by SKU, and by distribution center. Demand Flow works by looking at the inventory of a distribution center as it relates to its minimum and maximum inventory targets. If a product falls below its inventory target, it will break for replenishment in manufacturing to produce more products. Company reps say before the days of Demand Flow, inventory exceeded seven or eight days with materials all the way to the ceiling, but now, the company is down to one and a half days of inventory. Further, the program has reduced dock time from 27 to 11 days. “Before we started this process, in a typical year we would have about 13,000 changeovers. Last year we had over 39,000 changeovers, so our changeovers actually have increased three times,” says Jessie Davis, materials manager at Gates Rubber Company. Magill adds: “I think it gives us kind of a third-party view that the mission we have been on for a number of years has been successful. We are on the right track in view of someone outside of the Gates environment, so I think it helps bring credibility to what we have been doing, and I think helps us from a competitive advantage in the marketplace.” Says Buzzard from Uni-Select: “I am very proud of the work that our employees have put into this tool. It is very fulfilling and rewarding for us to receive a recognition such as this from such an outstanding organization as Polk. I think it brings a lot of credibility to our company.”
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