Kiverco – Purchasing & Stock Management

“Working through our processes with Flowlens allowed us to identify ways of working smarter.”

The Problem
Having experienced significant growth in recent years Kiverco acknowledged that the existing array of spreadsheets, documents, emails and manual processes were no longer fit for purpose.

The production process consisted of multiple spreadsheets that handled data for customer orders, bills of materials, stock, purchasing, engineering tasks, and scheduling on the shop floor. Data was manually transferred from sheet to sheet, which frequently resulted in errors and discrepancies. For any given job, multiple versions of the same information would come into existence, particularly around parts.

Due to the bottleneck of manually transferred data, the purchasing team rarely had early visibility of new orders and requirements for stock. This made it impossible to plan far ahead, manage cash effectively, and challenge the market for the best price.

For the sales team, it was difficult to manage customer expectations regarding delivery dates, as the schedule was somewhat fluid, and heavily reliant on the master scheduler.

The Solution
Working with the Kiverco team, Flowlens mapped the Purchasing to Goods Recieved process. This allowed the project team to test the process and identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies. In particular, incomplete sales quotation data, was causing delays at the design and production stages whilst details were clarified.

Flowlens manages core data at the heart of the system, so that it can be used across all functions of the business. This includes Bill of Materials data, as well as production and supplier lead times, and assembly sequencing.

The Flowlens Solutions supports a joined up workflow across the product lifecycle.

Flowlens allows Engineering and Purchasing to work in parallel. Bespoke parts are designed whilst standard parts are ordered ‘just in time’.
Purchasing can manage suppliers, stock levels and costs, with enough lead time to get the best price, without tying up cash in parts that are not needed for weeks.
Dashboard reporting allows each function to keep a finger on the pulse with relevant, real-time information.

The Benefits
Kiverco initially reviewed off-the-shelf ERP solutions, and realised that these would require significant changes to processes in order to get results. The Flowlens approach offered a solution that would work with Kiverco’s processes, and grow with the business.

Clear, consistent quotations, driven by the Bill of Material data ensure that details are not overlooked which previously caused confusion and delay.

Purchasing can go to the market and get the best price, whilst minimum stock levels are managed in real-time, avoiding delays waiting for replenishments to arrive.

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