CREATING A BETTER WORKFLOW Fastenal’s implementation specialists went with Sundowner employees through the nearly half-a-million-square-foot facility to find the best locations for point-of-use vending machines. This has led to a large reduction in wasted walk time. Instead of employees walking all the way across the large building to get commonly used items from the tool crib, now they just swipe an ID badge and have the item they need drop from one of the 25 machines on the floor. “Fastenal establishing an onsite facility here at Sundowner has actually increased production,” said Mike Mason. “Especially with the vending program that Fastenal’s implemented, I would say it increased production within the first month probably 10 to 15 percent.” In addition, there are now four Fastenal employees working in the facility at no cost to Sundowner. They stock machines, manage a new tool crib (with digital tracking), and work with Sundowner management to offer solutions to problems as they come up or, in some cases, before they even happen. Justin Walker General Manager, Sundowner Trailers “We’re a large company. We use a lot of small parts. I was really worried about the transition because there are hundreds and hundreds of parts that we did not deal with necessarily. And anytime you have a parts outage it can really cripple your production flow, which costs money. I was very pleased with the way Fastenal planned and prepared, and our transition could not have been smoother.” THE ROAD TO A BETTER SUPPLY CHAIN Sundowner, a builder of custom trailers, needed a custom solution to improve their supply chain. And that’s the benefit of a Fastenal onsite: The customer’s solution is unique and not a standard cookie-cutter approach. What worked best for Sundowner was to have Fastenal manage the point-of-use vending locations along with an onsite tool crib and warehouse with more than 800 SKUs. “A lot of parts that we’re getting today are the same as we were getting before,” said Justin Walker. “They are at a better price; that’s important. But also having the daily dialogue with the people that are here on the floor – communication with our management, communication with our employees – that’s something that we’ve not had in the past.” Interacting with the Sundowner team provides Fastenal’s onsite employees experience to prepare for the challenges that will come up during new builds in a rural manufacturing setting. “Being a customer, especially in a rural area, there are a lot of challenges that you face through inventory, through logistics, and with service in general,” said Kyle Hughey, Fastenal District Manager. “A Fastenal onsite program plugs into that very well. We’re able to supply same-day needs. We’re able to live and breathe in their culture. We’re able to adapt and change as their business changes. And I firmly believe that our customers do what they do well. Whether they are a premier trailer manufacturer or in the hospitality industry or government or whatever it may be. That’s their strong suit. Them allowing us to come in and do what we do best, managing inventory and leveraging distribution, is what helps propel their business in the future.” Check out the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCcOmFoj3pI&t=24s
Download PDF file