Today’s competition is fierce.

Not only are companies being graded on their ability to perform, but on how well they can adjust to their customers’ changing demands. It’s expected that companies stay ahead of the curve and anticipate market changes to deliver the best service and support. That’s challenging enough. But if you have a supply partner who isn’t working on your behalf, meeting those goals becomes downright impossible.

Let’s talk about your industrial and MRO supplies. Without timely access to the hoses, accessories, fasteners and industrial MRO supplies you need, there’s no way you can meet or exceed your customer expectations.

On a balance sheet, this inventory may seem little more than a reflection of your daily operations. But when mission-critical items are missing or delayed, those numbers can equal serious loss of revenue, either from decreased sales or from losing a customer completely.

Without a reliable supply chain, many companies experience these inevitable side effects:

• Decreased customer satisfaction
• Higher lead times
• Increased downtime
• Increased purchasing costs
• Last-minute spot buys

Getting you the parts and materials you need to succeed is our business, but we wanted to share some best practices you can use to get the most out of your operations.

4 Tips to Help Your Company Deliver the Goods on Time, Every Time

1. Employ Lean Management Strategies
Take a look at the people, technology and processes that are currently in use throughout your organization. Are there areas of waste or inefficiencies that are slowing you down? Value stream mapping is one effective lean management strategy you can use to highlight broken workflows and begin process improvements.

It’s simple to begin. Choose one product or service that you offer customers. Then, draw a map of all the processes involved from procurement of necessary materials and inventory to the final delivery of goods. Begin recording data found in each step. Consider cycle time, people required, scrapped parts, etc. Then, start using that data to make changes to your production workflow.

2. Invest in Better Inventory Management
Inventory can make or break your business. Too much inventory ties up cash flow and too little slows down the production and sale of goods. Effective inventory management is one way companies can regain control of inventory costs, avoid dead stock, save on storage costs and improve productivity. Begin tracking the lifecycle of inventory as it comes and goes from your business to help you make smarter reorder decisions. (Suppliers are a good resource for these services, including Superior Industrial Supply.)

3. Regularly Schedule Maintenance
Unplanned downtime from a broken machine can impede production and lead to serious profit losses. Planned preventative maintenance can reduce the frequency and impact of broken or jammed shop equipment, as well as allow companies to make the best use of their time and labor when a machine is down for maintenance. Affected employees can assist in other shop operations rather than standing around wasting time. To get the most of your machines and tools, be sure to keep documented logs of machine maintenance tasks such as checking coolant levels, changing air filters or changing out worn components.

4. Choose Reliable Supply Partners
There’s value in the partnerships you create, especially when it comes to your supply chain. Your suppliers play a big role in helping you source the materials you need to operate. Additionally, your supply partner can help you identify better options that can help you operate more profitability and efficiently. Examine your current supply partners and choose those you trust to deliver the goods you need with the best customer service possible.

Does Your Supplier Offer Speedy Delivery?

We know that you have options and it’s our job to over-service your needs. That’s why we offer Delivery and Will Call Counter services for our St. Louis customers, as well as 24/7 access to product information for your convenience. While the competition is busy cutting back, we are busy stocking our shelves with the items you need to get back to work. From our online selection of over 20,000 hose, fittings, fasteners and industrial MRO products to our free local same-day delivery options and national delivery program, we are here to serve you.

Superior Industrial Supply has one of the largest inventories of industrial and MRO supplies in and around the St. Louis area. That means we likely have all the items you need in stock and ready to go. If we don’t have it in stock, we can usually get it for you within a day. Rest assured, we will drop everything to help you locate the items you need to keep your operation moving along. 

There aren’t enough hours in the day to waste time hunting down the parts and materials you need to operate. And let’s be honest, if you could add a few more hours to your day, would you want to spend it sourcing the items you need to operate efficiently? Let us take care of that.

Give us a call at 800-783-6501, visit our website or read our blog for more information.

At Superior Industrial Supply, Service is the Difference.