Partnership Creates Value for Customer
Challenge
Our customer, John, is the Production Manager for a leading manufacturer of material handling equipment who recently reorganized their supply chain and experienced significant advantages.
John’s business model was to be very vertically integrated. Most operations were performed in-house and raw stock was purchased from Eagle and other vendors. As their production line needed parts, they would machine the quantity needed on their own CNC router. The assumption was that it would be more efficient to control the lead-time, quality and finished good inventory by doing everything in house.
John maintained an inventory of various grades and thicknesses of UHMW and Nylon sheet stock in excess of $25,000. Since this material is 48” x 120”, it took up a significant amount of floor space and was continuously being moved around creating logistical issues.
As with many of our customers, plastic components make up a very small percentage of their total spend. Their CNC router, which also consumes a large footprint and needed continual maintenance, sat unused most of the time because it is suitable only for plastics.
In addition, because it is difficult to find qualified workers, John needed to maximize the use of each team member. Having people trained and available to operate the router was not always feasible as personnel were needed for higher value operations within the facility.
Solution
Eagle Performance Plastics, Inc partnered with our customer to provide complete finished components directly to the production floor, exactly when they were needed. Since Eagle already stocks the material, we can deliver parts within 7-10 days or even sooner if needed.
Since our focus is working with performance grade plastic materials, we have the latest equipment and tooling for machining high quality parts. Our customer only needs to order the quantity of parts that they need and can be confident that they will have them when needed.
For higher volume parts, we have a blanket order arrangement that results in even more savings.
Advantages of Working With Eagle
- Free up personnel for higher value work
- Free up floor space
- Eliminate the expense of the raw stock inventory (improve cash flow)
- Eliminate the logistical issues of maintaining the inventory (paperwork)
- Pay for only what is needed when it is needed
- Improved quality (ISO 9001:2015)
- Consistent and known part costs