All part of the service

The last few years have probably been the toughest trading times we've seen for decades. Businesses from SMEs to blue chip organisations have had to re-evaluate their position and make some tough

decisions in an attempt to ride out the storm.

Yet the UK manufacturing industry has become almost a trendsetter in recent UK growth reports and we are seeing full order books, new investment and increased recruiting. However, the industry still faces many challenges – cash flow management for example to get the balance right between securing material supply, juggling with volatile metal prices all whilst managing the squeeze in available capital.

Stockholding companies can be a key source for improving the cash flow situation within manufacturing companies as Carmen Knam, corporate development manager at ThyssenKrupp Materials (UK) explains: “We offer a materials solution to the manufacturing industry nationwide and carry a vast stock range of aluminium and stainless steel long and flat products as well as plastics.
“With our short leadtimes and nationwide delivery coverage as well as bespoke customer stock solutions, we can support our customers towards working more efficiently and reducing capital tied up in inventory, thus helping to improve their cash flow situation.”

Steve Elliott, business development manager at Metalfast, a division of ThyssenKrupp Materials (UK) echoes the sentiment.

“During the recession one of my customers, an international company with bases in the UK, decided to consolidate four national sites into one ‘super site' in an attempt to reduce duplication costs, whilst maintaining the majority of its 600 strong workforce. Separately the sites managed their own supply chains but now under one roof the multitude of suppliers and their geographical locations became too unwieldy to manage effectively.

“What this company needed was a partner to effectively manage the supply chain for each business segment that was conversant in a wide range of materials to meet the many differing demands of the business.”

He continues: “ThyssenKrupp Materials International had, through its German-based Dortmund site, supported this company's transition across Europe and Metalfast utilised the experience of its colleagues on the continent. A similar template was adopted in the UK, where a single source service provider would materialise requirements based on manufacturing forecasts, from financing and managing inventory to delivering to individual manufacturing cells by means of its own logistical organisation. We were therefore able to support our customer in improving its inventory management and thus cash flow situation.

“As this UK partnership develops it is envisaged that Kanban line side deliveries will be the next step for our two organisations. Gone are the days of the old adversarial relationships between buyer and supplier – partnership and trust are the way forward to a prosperous future.”
It is this relationship between supplier and manufacturer that will contribute to a more profitable manufacturing industry with a secure future. ThyssenKrupp Materials (UK) reports that its sales force will always look beyond purely material supply and think instead about the best solution for the customer's application. Chris Wilson, regional manager for ThyssenKrupp Materials (UK)'s central region has a background in manufacturing and explains how he has used his experience to work with the customer on optimising product and production processes.

“One of my customers manufactures tooling cabinets used in the automotive sector and during a recent visit he informed me of a problem that one of his customers was having. The problem was centred around the design of the cabinet handles which were prone to collecting grease and grime so we brainstormed a few ideas to see if we could come up with a solution.

“What transpired was a simple redesign,” he explains. “The solution was to change the profile of the drawer handle to incorporate a round edge which would smooth the surface. The new handle allows for easier cleaning and therefore solves the issue of contamination whilst maintaining the overall look of the product.”

Through the conversations that took place, it transpired that ThyssenKrupp had a part to play as Mr Wilson reveals: “My customer orders the material from us in anodised, cut to length sections. He then carries out a trimming operation to cut the sections to finished length – often to tight tolerances.

“Following further discussion, we were actually able to remove this finishing step from the process. I explained to the production manager that we can supply our cut to length sections to a tight tolerance effectively negating the need for the trimming operation. This now means the customer can fit the handles to the cabinets straightaway saving time and money.”

It is this kind of conversation that enables me to use my manufacturing experience to help improve the customer's production process,” Mr Wilson concludes. “Although we operate at the front of the supply chain in this case we were also able to help improve the final product.”

ThyssenKrupp
www.thyssenkruppmaterials.co.uk

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