RS works with market leader in analytical instruments to transform time-consuming practices.
Overcoming stock inefficiencies on the shopfloor can make a significant difference to productivity by reducing time-consuming activities and cutting costs in the process. For assembly technicians faced with the challenge of keeping production on the move, sourcing stock held away from the line can lead to unnecessary downtime.
How best then to eliminate inefficient work practices and gain better control of inventory? Partner with a supplier who combines a comprehensive range of products with a series of innovative and tailored service solutions designed to enhance day-to-day operations. Already a leading industrial and components distributor, RS Components also offers bespoke, value-added solutions that are designed to address the specific and often complex operational and procurement challenges customers face. By getting under the skin of your business, RS works with you to understand, improve and help streamline inefficient processes that cost time, money and resource.
The challenge
Nu Instruments is a division of the global firm AMETEK and a market leader in the design and manufacture of high-performance mass spectrometers; analytical instruments used to characterise the isotopic or elemental composition of biomedical, geological, and food samples. In use in academic and government institutions and industrial research labs worldwide, Nu Instruments’ mass spectrometers are designed, assembled and tested on site at its manufacturing facility in Wrexham, North Wales.
A significant and common problem was that the low-value, free issue consumables necessary for the assembly process were situated in the central stores, and the walk & wait time to retrieve them was high. Managing the inventory was also time consuming for the busy stores team, who were dealing with 30 people each day. At an assumed cost per visit of £2.50 for each of those personnel, the low-value parts were costing the business significantly more by hampering productivity.
The solution
As a longstanding supplier of Nu Instruments, RS already had a good understanding of the product needs of the business and was keen to add further value to the customer’s operations with its innovative service solutions.
Woking closely with Nu Instruments’ Supply Chain team to determine where the flow could be improved, RS identified its RS ScanStock® solution as the most efficient way to streamline working practices and save the customer time and money.
RS ScanStock® is a fully managed service, with RS taking care of the control and replenishment of agreed products while the customer and its employees focus on their core business. For Nu Instruments, it means fast-moving, low-value supplies can be kept closer to those who need the products the most, reducing time previously spent walking to and waiting for stocks from central stores.
The RS ScanStock® solution has been installed line-side at the Wrexham plant and has already reaped immediate benefits; reducing the pressure on the central stores team and allowing the technicians and engineers to concentrate on the assembly line with the necessary consumables close at hand. With the RS ScanStock® module itself on wheels, it can also be moved around the workspace to serve the areas where the consumables are required the most.
The outcome
The use of RS ScanStock® has transformed the shopfloor processes by allowing quick and easy access to products. This has led to increased productivity and significant cost and time savings, with assembly technicians spending less time waiting for products, and more on their core activities.
The results are significant and show a 40% reduction in time spent visiting central stores for the items now held line-side, which is the equivalent of £36,615 in potential savings*.
With RS ScanStock® enabling the central stores team to offer a better service to shopfloor personnel, and the subsequent time and cost savings it has achieved, Nu Instruments is eager to add more fast-moving consumables to its inventory and build on the valuable gains it has already made.
*Costs are based on a number of assumptions made by RS Components and Nu Instruments.