SOLAR SVERIGE AB

December 30, 2019

Outsourcing makes inventory management more efficient and provides ease of administration to solar’s customers

The sourcing and service company Solar offers a wide range of services that optimize customer activities. Among other services, Solar offers its customers to let go of the administration and instead let Solar take over inventory management and order management. A task that has ensured that the necessary goods are always in stock with the help of an online scanner solution for electronic registration of goods and automatic re-ordering.

One of Solar’s customers in Sweden is SCA Ortviken’s Paper Mill in Sundsvall, where some of Solar’s electrical appliances are a fixed range at the warehouse. Solar has taken over the entire inventory management and now owns the local warehouse at SCA Ortviken, which consists of more than 400 different electrical goods. Therefore, Solar now handles the heavy and time-consuming tasks such as order handling, ordering, replenishment and inventory with regular delivery days during the week. In this way, the order system at SCA Ortviken has become much more systematic and dynamic.

– The shift to the dynamic stock has worked well right from the beginning. All warehouse management of the electrical items from Solar is completely automatic today. We avoid the entire administration and instead Solar handles the task for us. We only register when we take a product from the warehouse using a mobile PDA where we scan the item. After that, the system will automatically know if more goods need be ordered. In principle, we do not need to think more about the process – Solar ensures that we have the goods that we need, says Martin Näslund, Custodian at SCA Underhåll in Sundsvall.

"It is about being able to follow and adapt the entire flow to the customer's needs. The scanner solution is online, so when they register in the warehouse that they are taking a product, the system is automatically being notified."

Malin Lindgren, Customer Logistics Manager, Solar Sweden AB.

DYNAMIC STOCK SAVES TIME

Solar and SCA Ortviken have jointly determined re-ordering points for the individual goods in relation to the minimum number required. When an item reaches the re-order point, an order will automatically be placed in the system. It saves time at the head office at SCA Ortviken. The number of stocked items is adjusted as needed as the dynamic solution makes it easy to add and remove goods from the warehouse. The manual order system still exists, so extra orders can still be made if an urgent need arises.

– We offer the operational service with the handling of inventory management so you can save time on the entire purchasing process. This eliminates the risk that a given product not is in stock. You just go to the warehouse and pick up the item. SCA Orviken, therefore, does not have to make purchases on an ongoing basis and avoids unnecessary waiting time for delivery of goods, says Malin Lindgren, Customer Logistics Manager at Solar Sverige AB.

Malin Lindgren acts as a link between Solar’s logistic services and the customer needs. Malin Lindgren has also been involved in implementing the dynamic warehouse at SCA Ortviken.

ONLINE SCANNER SOLUTION CREATES VALUE IMMEDIATELY

The dynamic stock solution is flexible and can be implemented by all types of companies. Using an online and Android-based scanner solution, the local warehouse at SCA Ortviken can “talk” directly with the system.

– It is about being able to follow and adapt the entire flow to the customer’s needs. The scanner solution is online, so when they register in the warehouse that they are taking a product, the system is automatically being notified, and the inventory is adjusted accordingly. In this way, we can create value immediately, as we can follow the stock balance and ensure that the goods are available all the time, explains Malin Lindgren.

EASE OF ADMINISTRATION IN EVERYDAY LIFE

During the implementation of the local warehouse at SCA Ortviken, the specific re-ordering points were defined by looking at history on previous goods consumption to get an idea of the real need in the warehouse. New supplies and replenishment of goods are handled by Solar’s employees from the local store in Sundsvall. The daily administration is thus significantly reduced for the warehouse staff at SCA.

– In fact, we don’t really need to contact Solar during a work day. We are only in dialogue if we want to add more items to the warehouse or change reorder points. But besides that, it runs just as it should, Martin Näslund concludes.

ABOUT SOLAR SWEDEN AB

Solar Sweden AB is part of the Solar Group, which is one of Europe’s leading sourcing and service companies. Solar is primarily active in electricity, plumbing and ventilation technology with over 215,000 item numbers in stock. The core business is about delivery, service, and optimization of customers’ activities. Solar Sweden has approx. 650 employees and serving customers from 48 local shops and two central warehouses – Gällivare in the north and Malmö in the south.