MinutemanSuccess Story

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Minuteman International was established in 1951 and owns and produces their own floor sweepers and scrubbers, such as the Powerbass are manufactured out of their Pingree Grove, IL, facility. Minuteman International is a part of the Hako Group which is located in Germany. The Hako Group services customers worldwide from 60 countries. Their automotive manufacturing business focuses on a ride on scrubbers and sweepers which are built on production lines that have the capability to adapt to customer requirements.

CHALLENGES

• Excessive working capital tied up in inventory negatively affecting bottom line performance
• Rising levels of dead stock
• Lack of utilizing forecasts for future planning
• Constant order expediting and ongoing firefighting
• Master data settings not aligned with business processes
• Not utilizing Capacity Planning and Scheduling in SAP
• High level of manual processes and workarounds (Excel Spreadsheets)
• Lack of trust in the system and data accuracy

SOLUTIONS

• Supply Chain transformation utilizing Reveal’s (oVo®) methodology focused on educating users and management team, data housekeeping and governance, managing by exception and aligning master data to support business processes
• Increase data accuracy, standardize business process and develop user confidence in SAP
• Process enhancements aligned with SAP Best Practices focused on improving service levels, optimizing inventory, capacity and production planning and data visibility
• Education, ownership and accountability of master data and aligning MRP strategies to drive balance into the supply chain and reduce MRP exceptions
• Established Process Aligned Teams (PATs) to address supply chain challenges identified through the oVo® process.
• Production Planning, Capacity Planning and Scheduling in SAP
• Set up KPI’s and review processes to align with business objectives

BENEFITS

• Number of materials with negative days of supply dropped by 89%
• MRP exception messages decreased by 66%
• Stock value reduced by 32%
• žIncrease profitability by:
  • Reduction in inventory carry costs (working capital)
  • Reduction of expedited orders
  • Reduction of air shipments and freight costs
  • Reduction of manual processes and work arounds
• Increase in customer satisfaction
  • Improved delivery and accuracy (OTIF)
  • Knowledge of customer backorder issues
• Improved levels of trust and visibility of the data to make decisions
• Educated and empowered users and management team