Reducing Cost of Goods Sold with Electronic Vendor Managed Inventory
Do more with less. It’s a directive for many leaders across business verticals. It seems especially true each year for durable goods manufacturers.
Leading manufacturing companies – and their managers – face constant pressure to reduce cost of goods sold on a year over year basis. Assembly parts from labels to inserts, manuals, and cartons are a commodity and it’s tougher each year to lower costs as paper prices and freight costs increase.
Leading manufacturers of appliances, electronics, medical devices and consumer packaged goods find innovative ways to curb costs while increasing efficiency, creating value across the business. One way to implement improvement is through electronic vendor managed inventory on assets like technical publications, light assembly kitting and packaging needs.
Working with a third party vendor can lower cost on labor, decrease the need for warehouse space and increase efficiency elsewhere on the assembly line.
Partners with Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and Consignment solutions that combine best-practice lean manufacturing and supply chain techniques, sophisticated IT integration capabilities and a scalable, flexible printing and fulfillment infrastructure can reduce a company’s costs of inventory, quality, transactions and transportation – all while beating the market on print production.
A Few Things to Look For
When searching for the right partner in your technical publications and assembly needs, consider a few things. Look for these features in their solutions.
Can this vendor use jointly-established business rules for a just in time (JIT) production schedule and maintain a consignment inventory level that you pay for only upon consumption?
Look for in-house fulfillment, robust Digital Asset Management (DAM) with a feature-rich Electric Low Stock Notification (eLSN) system.
Does this potential partner have a comprehensive set of printed material supply chain solutions available?
For printed material, does the vendor have the right tools for serious utility printing, like a 2-color, cold-set web press capable of 30,000 impressions each hour?
Let’s Break it Down – Needed Features
Electronic Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and Consignment
MRP forecast integration, JIT production, EDI transaction, EPI management of inventory levels and ordering, payment upon product consumption.
Print and Media Production
Manuals, guides, booklets, labels, folding cartons, warranty and registration cards, CD/DVD replication.
Digital Asset Management (DAM)
Market leading, enterprise-class DAM system; browser based; user access control; fully searchable metadata; notification & collaboration features; ‘on the fly’ image repurposing.
Electronic Low Stock Notification (eLSN)
Low stock email alerts and online stock management portal, view detailed usage history, automatic EOQ calculation, submit replenishment actions online.
Turnkey Packaging Services
Package design, prototyping, production, conversion, insertion, shrink wrapping, fulfillment.
Fulfillment Services
Spare parts, returns, catalog items, recalls, samples, warranty work, hand assembly, kitting.
The Bottom Line
The right VMI and consignment solution will combine best-practice lean manufacturing and supply chain techniques, sophisticated IT integration capabilities and a scalable, flexible printing and fulfillment infrastructure to reduce your company’s costs of inventory, quality, transactions and transportation – all while beating the market on print production.
