From Rock Quarries to manufacturing facilities and every heavy equipment shop in between, most utilize in one form or another some version of a parts bin management system. Bin management allows for a more organized and systematic method of stocking, and easily reordering parts that are frequently needed, and even if not frequently needed are available to reduce downtime. Down time is the key phrase here, because the cost of having inventory sitting in your shop or warehouse likely costs exponentially less than your equipment or vehicle not being in service. Fortunately, with an industry leading partner like Force Flex Industrial, we can customize a bin service program that will suit your individual needs and always keep the consumables necessary on the shelf to hit your goal of keeping downtime to a minimum.
For the last 12 years we’ve had to keep track of over 6,000 different parts in our own warehouse. As a result of carrying such a dense amount of inventory, it was only natural that we perfected a system of managing it so we could efficiently keep the proper amount of stock on hand to serve our customers and reduce their downtime. The structure of our bin management system is limitless as it has been seamlessly integrated into enterprise grade customers to keep their maintenance divisions running on all cylinders but also scaled down to help local mom and pop mechanic shops who need a smaller set of fittings, pre assembled air brake hoses, etc. they can pull off the shelf for common easy fixes.
If you are considering keeping consumable items like nuts, bolts, clamps, pipe fittings, ball valves or being able to make your own hydraulic hose assemblies in house then Force Flex Industrial has a few solutions you can choose from.
Commercial Bin Management
If you want to make your own hose assemblies on site, or keep in stock a variety of fittings for whatever your line of work entails, the first option to consider is Commercial bin management. Under this program your experienced sales rep will:
- Conduct a walk-through of equipment or vehicles to provide you with a thorough analysis of all of inventory to be kept on site to remain efficient and recommend quantities for each part based on usage or need
- Once we determine the inventory to be kept in stock and where it’s going to be located on site, we will schedule an install date. Usually on the same date depending on volume of products to be delivered we conduct a training meeting for all the essential personnel in the company on:
- Scanning barcode labels via our handheld android based barcode inventory management system and learning its software.
- Crimper training to learn how to safely operate all equipment provided by us to manufacture hose assemblies.
- Conduct a safety certification course in hydraulics where applicable.
- Part identification, measuring threads, bin organization and part locations.
Once your employee’s have become familiar with how everything works, where things will be located and how to take inventory themselves, under the Commercial bin management program, your designated staff will be responsible for taking inventory and submitting an order to us for processing. Once received, we will send an order acknowledgement and ship out all items requested and it will be your employee’s job to receive and restock your bins once their package arrives. Our experienced sales team will always be available to train new staff or retrain current staff if needed as the situation arises. If you find after managing the inventory yourself that your staff’s time is better allocated to doing other tasks, we can easily convert you over to our VMI (Vendor Managed Inventory) program.
Vendor Managed Inventory
Again, let’s stipulate all of the above has happened for this program. You want to make hoses, keep bolts, ball valves etc. on hand. Our sales rep comes out and does the hokey pokey with you and viola you have all the stuff at your disposal to keep your business firing on all cylinders. Under this program Force Flex takes the reins and the responsibility of coming to your location with whatever frequency that suits your needs, whether it is once a week or once a month. When our rep arrives, he will evaluate all your bins & hoses and reorder the quantities necessary to refill them, and then usually within 2-3 days your rep will return and put away all stock items that were reordered. Sometimes the need arises to adjust inventory due to certain pieces of equipment being phased out or a new type of equipment that comes in requiring a new set of parts needed to fix them. Should we need to; we can easily reclaim any unused inventory for a credit to you and seamlessly adjust your inventory to add new parts or products as needed.
We understand that each business has different needs, so we work collaboratively with you to develop a system unique to you and your warehouse or shop, even if it means a hybrid of both programs. We can create outcomes that exceed your expectations with our proven bin service system. Again, these are scalable and can quickly adapt to the ever-changing demands of your industry.
Some of the benefits of a bin management system are:
- Fast Customer Service: Managing your bins can prevent delays in answering customers concerns. You can provide them with answers and a solution in the same conversation to them, leading you to be their go source because you become a critical source they can count on to reduce their downtime.
- Better Planning: When you have multiple pieces of equipment you can identify trends with certain problems being repetitive. (i.e. leaks on the same valve block, or the same hose leaking on each unit). With your bin management system by Force Flex, the benefit is 3 fold as we can:
- Adapt accordingly to reduce certain costs by adjusting inventory levels to compensate.
- With the above adjustments you are eliminating your worries about running out of inventory.
- Finally dialing in the inventory means you have more visibility in to your actual expenditures per project.
With your trust placed in us, Force Flex Industrial will create a system that helps your workflow more efficiently, reduce your customers downtime or yours from having to order the hose assemblies and other various industrial accessories, then waiting precious days or weeks, or wasting your staff’s time driving all over God’s green earth to find what you need burning up the one thing none of us will ever get back…Time. Let the experts here at Force Flex enhance your shop or facilities operations and take it to the next level with a bin Management program.
If you have any questions or want to learn more, Contact Us today and one of our bin service pro’s will guide you through the entire process. Get in touch with us today and let’s find a solution to your needs!
