Reducing Global Inventory as Interim COO for a US Printer Supplier.
A $200m turnover global printer company faced the unexpected and immediate loss of its COO and Global Supply Chain Director. Stuart relocated to Los Angeles immediately to cover both positions and drive through purchasing and inventory management improvements.
In March 2011, following on from successful delivery of a project in Holland for the same company in the prior year, Opptic were asked to cover for the sudden loss of the two senior Operations staff. At the same time, the request was made to plan and drive through a very significant improvement in global inventory turns, whilst managing the phase-out and replacement of three major product lines.
Stuart immediately moved to Los Angeles to take over as COO, while a permanent replacement was sought. There followed a further 3 months in the UK driving through the action plans Opptic had developed:
- Recalculated and reset all safety stock levels for all locations
- Developed comprehensive inventory projected excess and management tools
- Revised forecasting process reviews and authorisations
- Delayed and cancelled newly projected excess purchases
- Produced data management tools in Excel for flexible analysis of SAP output data
- Enforced inventory excess redistribution between regions to prevent over procurement
- Sold off excess and obsolete products into non-competitive markets
New impetus was put into improving global inventory turns which had levelled off around 4 turns per year. This rose to over 5.5 by the end of the year as a direct result of these new initiatives and systems, with global net inventory value dropping by $3.7m (21%) in 9 months.
For the last month in LA, and a further 2 months remotely from the UK, Stuart also provided services to the Product Marketing department, managing the phase out and replacement of three major product lines ensuring continuity of customer supply and minimal obsolescence.
“You have done a great job for us and set a standard which I can hold [management] to, for that I thank you very much. I am sure we will wind up being engaged again.” (Company CEO).
“Thank you for all your work. It has been a tremendous help to us all and I certainly appreciate it. We will definitely stay in touch.” (New COO).
This case study demonstrates how Opptic were able to respond to a short-term critical management challenge providing experienced resources to cover vacant positions while also adding very significant value in inventory reduction and product transition management. The Company has since successfully continued to reduce inventories.
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Last Updated (Monday, 21 July 2014 10:34)