Customer Success: Ink, Inventory, Improvements

U.S.-Based International Manufacturer of Insulation for Commercial Buildings Dramatically Reduces Costs, Improves Inventory Management, and Operates Three 24/ Shifts in Five Locations with Cost-Effective Products and Solutions from InkJet, Inc.

SITUATION

A major U.S.-based global manufacturer of four types of wool insulation products used for commercial buildings requires a high volume of Drop on Demand (DOD) inks at its facilities in Alabama, California, Indiana, Michigan, and West Virginia. The main drivers for coding insulation are for internal tracking purposes and product branding. This manufacturer maintains a presence in more than 35 countries and operates almost 40 production facilities in 15 countries. Printing and coding run times tend to be almost constant for manufacturers of construction materials. Plant personnel and equipment are typically subjected to harsh environments, with extreme temperatures and dusty conditions being common issues that they must factor into their processes.

CHALLENGE

This manufacturer was experiencing two troublesome challenges: 1) the ink in its printers needed to be reliable and high enough quality to withstand the harsh manufacturing conditions; and 2), the costs to ship the required inks were becoming excessive given the high volume of inks needed at this manufacturer’s many facilities, and, in some cases, the costs for shipping exceeded the cost of the inks.

SOLUTION

Managing the inventory of this high volume of ink proved to be another critical need and posed a dilemma for this manufacturer: large supplies of ink needed to be readily available to meet production demands, yet warehouse space for storing massive numbers of five-gallon ink containers could very quickly be consumed.

Approximately 8 years ago, an InkJet, Inc. Sales Representative developed a positive working relationship with California-based representatives of this company by supplying fluids to the California plant for its large character DOD printers. Equipped with prior experience with this customer, coupled with a keen understanding of the serious shipping and inventory management challenges this customer faced, InkJet, Inc. developed a “ship on demand” solution for delivery to the locations that were struggling with high shipping costs.

“InkJet, Inc. is obsessed with customer satisfaction, and this scenario that we are sharing is just one example of the value we always strive to add for all of our customers. We were able to keep up with this insulation maker’s extensive ink and fluid needs while also eliminating their requirement to store such large volumes of ink in their warehouses. Fortunately, InkJet, Inc. has the staff, manufacturing capabilities, and storage capacity to accommodate this customer,” explained Ryan Boss, Inside Sales Representative with InkJet, Inc.

RESULTS

InkJet, Inc. was able to provide cleaner, more reliable inks and fluids to this customer and enabled their procurement team to cut shipping expenses by more than 50 percent to many of the company’s manufacturing facilities. These improvements were achieved by developing an ordering and shipping process that was best suited for this customer. This new approach included keeping right amount of inventory on hand, knowing the customer’s ink usage and negotiating shipping arrangements with a delivery company that was qualified to transport flammable materials. The customer thus was able to transition away from a costly overnight shipping arrangement that was previously in place with a competitive supplier. Now, because of these improvements that InkJet, Inc. facilitated, this manufacturer has dramatically reduced expenses and increased efficiencies. Furthermore, this customer is running three production shifts 24/7 in five of its U.S. facilities while increasing profitability. As need arises, InkJet, Inc. is well-equipped to support this manufacturer with these and other solutions for its other U.S. and international production facilities.