Foss Maritime offers a complete range of maritime transportation and logistics services. Whether it’s solving transportation challenges in remote parts of the world or efficiently handling everyday harbor jobs, Foss prides itself on always offering customers safe and innovative solutions. For more than a century, Foss Maritime has set the standard for marine transportation with leading-edge technology, engineering, and shipbuilding. Combining global reach with local expertise, Foss is recognized for its state-of-the-art fleet, experienced and dedicated crews, knowledgeable customer service staff, and world-class engineers. Foss Maritime Company is wholly owned by Saltchuk Resources, a privately-owned family investment company formed in 1982 and based in the Pacific Northwest.

CHALLENGES

• Inventory growth
• Cash liquidity
• Expediting purchase orders
• Increase in inbound air freight
• Damaging bottom line performance

SOLUTIONS

• Inventory optimization using standard SAP tools to reduce average inventory and maintain service levels
• Purchasing management to drive accuracy of supply to the needs of the business
• Support needed for effective on-time delivery of supply
• Reducing MRP exception messages to drive balance into the supply chain
• Inputs to the project systems planning business in terms of supporting project planning and budgeting efforts
• Introduction of release strategies to effectively manage procurement spend
• Communication between teams, locally and globally, increased as cross-functional teams learned to function collaboratively in managing data inside SAP
• Customer orders were processed in a more effective timely manner
• Improved service levels to the shipyard operations and maintenance activities

BENEFITS

• 12.68% reduction in inventory despite a concomitant 13% increase in the number of SKU’s under management
• 6.2% reduction in dead stock
• 18.9% reduction in slow moving stock
• 45% reduction in exception messages indicative of process efficiency improvement
• 63% reduction in overdue MRP elements indicative of service level improvements

Support to shore base stores and logistics operations in terms of ensuring availability of materials and spares.

Focus to the project systems team to drive accuracy of demand signals into SAP.

Commitment to specific, measurable goals focused on:

• Improved Service Levels
• Increase Process Efficiency and
• Optimized Inventory Levels (both stores and spares).

Targeting significant business benefits, including:

• Improved use of SAP system and in reduction in manual intervention;
• Develop ability to drive down costs across the supply chain
• Provide more accurate data / information for decision making

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