It May Be Time to Question How Effective is your VMI?

Are you satisfied with your current Vendor Managed Inventory Program (VMI)? Do you have concerns about the whether or not it is adding any value to your organization? Here are seven questions you can ask yourself the next time you walk past a Bin on your production floor:

1. If 50 percent of my part count can be replenished through VMI, how many are on the current program?

2. Am I dealing with fewer suppliers today than before we started the program?

3. Is the VMI Supplier better at their business then the best of the suppliers we consolidated and no longer have relationships with?

4. Did I optimize price on the component based on the how I was purchasing before? Did I get any synergy in the aggregation of demand from the consolidation of like suppliers?

5. Is my inventory lower today in my plant with multiple points of use then when I had a single location and issued parts?

6. Am I getting any cost reduction ideas from the VMI supplier to help my business?

7. What are my buyers doing differently today now that they no longer have to manage all these Parts, Purchase orders and Expedites?

Now that you have had a chance to stop and think about it don’t you think it’s a good time to take a new look at an old program?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The iPower Distribution Group of New England is a leader in VMI programs. iPower delivers the widest breadth and deepest supply of Tier 1 commodities in the Northeast. Our supply chain provides $800m annually of industrial components, supplies, and packaging materials. To learn more visit us at http://www.ipowerne.com.