Q&A WITH ADAM CURTIS Purchasing Manager, Sportsman Boats What issues led you to explore vending? “We had no inventory control and very poor reporting. Our last supplier would add substitutes without notifying us and would pack our cabinets full of inventory we did not need.” Why did you decide to partner with Fastenal? “It was great timing. We were looking for new ideas and a Fastenal employee dropped off a brochure with the vending machines. After speaking with a few employees at Sportsman that have used Fastenal vending before we felt like it was worth looking into.” How is the service provided by the local Fastenal team? “Fastenal is on-site with us. They are responsive in getting us quotes and answering any questions. It’s nice to have Fastenal employees on-site and to know they are here to serve us primarily.” How have the vending machines helped your employees? “We have everything from drill bits, sandpaper, and suits in the machines. We have multiple locations in our facility and the product in each area pertains to the job being done in that location. Employees like that we are not running out of product. It makes everyone’s job that much easier when you don’t have to worry about the small things.” What business improvements are you seeing as a result of the partnership? “The biggest factor in Fastenal being in our facility is we don’t have to go rush and find the consumables that were back-ordered from our supplier. Also, the service has just been a huge help. We can rely on Fastenal to solve issues, and to find ways for us to be more efficient.” How long did it take to see results? “From day one, it did not cost us any more to switch over to Fastenal. After a couple months running, everything seemed to start falling into place.” What has it meant for your business to partner with Fastenal? “Overall we are very pleased with having Fastenal in our facility. We feel like Fastenal supports us very well not only in serving us but also in trying to find ways to save us money. With the little data that was given to Fastenal for the implementation, they did a great job in keeping us going early on.” ELEMENTS OF EFFICIENCY LOCAL SUPPLY Fastenal employees have the parts Sportsman needs locally stocked to cut down on transit time. Product isn’t 48 hours away, it’s either on-site or just down the road. VENDING Fastenal specialists worked with Sportsman to determine the most effective point-of-use locations. Now, with about 40 machines and 5 lockers, workers can get the tools and parts they need with less downtime. WF_153001_Case Study_Sportsman Boats_8.20 JP https://www.fastenal.com/vending
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