by Natalie Edwards

HML Engineering, Blenheim - case study

 

‘QUICKSTOCK™ to us has been an incredible advantage, having stock on hand. It’s really like having your own local hardware store in your own parts department. I mean, what better could you get?'

 

We talk with Director, Steve Hamilton and Operations Manager, Alistair Savage at HML Engineering about how QUICKSTOCK™ gives them a competitive advantage.

Tell us a bit about HML Engineering and what led you to exploring your options in how you managed consumable stock inventory

At HML we’re mainly into specialising in structural steel. I came from a contracting background and went through to general engineering. We’ve specialised in structural steel from 2006 on, so for the last 15 years we’ve seen a number of changes in the industry. Especially related to the rising labour costs. It’s always been a big concern to people. - Steve Hamilton, Director

What made you decide to give the QUICKSTOCK™ solution a go?

When I think about inventory and our stock levels, the biggest thing that really stands out with me would be when I had an incredible overstock of, in this case 7” grinding discs. Bit of an embarrassing situation, we had numerous boxes of them that had been hidden away behind a door that we didn’t realise. So really brought us to a complete re-evaluation of what we were doing as far as consumable stock. With that they put forward to me that this company Euromarc was going to take the stock back thankfully, because we didn’t need it. They put forward this idea of having stock inventory supplied by them, which is an incredible idea in terms of having their money in my shop instead of mine, and we moved forward from there. - Steve Hamilton, Director

How would you say QUICKSTOCK™ has improved your business?

QUICKSTOCK™ works really well. It’s freed up a lot of admin time, doesn’t require much management at all, and we’re avoiding the out of stocks that we used to have. We don’t have to focus on making sure we’re scrimping on stock all the time like we used to, and that’s been a real benefit to us. - Alistair Savage, Operations Manager

How does QUICKSTOCK™ fit with your operations?

With QUICKSTOCK the Workshop Supervisor issues a pack of consumables every week to the team members, and in addition to that we’ve got two main guys in the workshop who’ve got keys. So if somebody wants some additional products then they get straight to the cabinet. The whole process takes a couple of minutes and we tend to do that around break times to minimise the disruption of productivity. In the real unusual circumstance that the supervisor’s not around then there are backup keys in the office. Nobody ever has to wait for it. We’re not going to hold them up from production. - Alistair Savage, Operations Manager

What would you say has been the best thing about getting QUICKSTOCK™?

QUICKSTOCK™ to us has been an incredible advantage, having stock on hand. It’s really like having your own local hardware store in your own parts department. I mean, what better could you get? – Steve Hamilton, Director

Would you recommend the QUICKSTOCK™ solution to other engineering companies?

I’d be happy to recommend QUICKSTOCK™ to other engineering companies, but preferably not our competitors. It’s a good system. It gives us a slight advantage.  – Alistair Savage, Operations Manager