Supply partnership drives down costs

The company requires the tightest dimensional tolerances for a range of demanding automotive and specialist engineering applications. These applications include turbocharger, engine, fuel delivery, fluid power and specialist industrial applications where tolerances and quality requirements are critical to end performance demands. The UK headquarters houses the global centre for development and advanced engineering excellence. Its manufacturing is also carried out here in a 75,000ft² facility in Skelmersdale, Lancashire, UK.

MSC Industrial Supply, on the other hand, is a $2.8 billion company with UK headquarters operating in the West Midlands. The company is a leading distributor of metalworking and MRO products and services and its goal is to help businesses like Erlson to drive greater productivity, profitability and growth with over 90,000 product offerings, inventory management and other supply chain solutions.

When business began to accelerate for Erlson in 2014, so did the need for a trusted supply partner. Like any business it was important for Erlson to develop, concentrate on its manufacturing expertise and remain competitive and responsive to its customers. The first step in this development was to look at the supply chain and relations that were critical to improving efficiency. Erlson had been doing business with MSC since 2006, so when choosing a partner to meet its business needs the foundations were laid.

Erlson faced two main challenges: one being the limited amount of time and manpower available to monitor tool usage and on-hand inventory; and the second was having the appropriate technical support available to develop its business.
It was in February 2015 that Erlson introduced MSC’s Control Point vending solution and saw instant results in terms of both time and money. The consumable tooling bill fell and with dedicated MSC project engineers on hand to further improve production processes, Erlson was also able to be more competitive in an industry driven by demand.

MSC’s Control Point solution typically reduces consumption by 25% or more. This is achieved through stock management and its reporting capabilities which is one of the main reasons why Erlson chose MSC. The company knew it needed to optimise the purchasing process if it was going to save time and concentrate on its manufacturing expertise. This solution meant that stock would be readily available to workers 24/7 and would be replenished by MSC so Erlson would never be out of stock or lose valuable machining time.

Other benefits for Erlson are its security and reporting options. As a result of its secure booking out function, Erlson can retrieve regular reports that show who has what tool, for what job and how much a job has cost from a tooling perspective. This kind of information is invaluable to Erlson, especially in today’s competitive environment. Being able to see what’s being used, where and how often is the key to driving productivity on any shopfloor. This information keeps people accountable and can raise a flag on any process that may not be efficient. With complete visibility, businesses like Erlson can stay in the know and in control over how each team consumes tooling and supplies.

The manufacturing industry is a competitive world and by working with MSC, Erlson has not only been able to concentrate on its manufacturing expertise but in the process of improving its supply chain, it has also been able to become more competitive for customers.

For MSC it’s not just about providing a solution that meets the need for stock availability; the supplier understands the importance of aftercare. MSC provides support all the way and has a team dedicated to servicing customers like Erlson after the solution has been implemented.

This includes training, on site MSC representatives, unlimited technical support and quarterly business reviews to ensure objectives are being met.

MSC www.mscdirect.co.uk