by Natalie Edwards

Hustler Equipment, Hastings - Success Story

 

‘With HQ giving us a good report on their QUICKSTOCK cabinets, it just made sense to bring it into HSM’

 

We catch up with the team at Hustler Equipment to get the story on how the QUICKSTOCK systems works at both their sites.

Tell us a bit about Hustler Equipment…

 Hustler Equipment is a locally owned business. Hustler has been designing and building farm machinery since 1961. We have two sites here in Hastings. We’ve just acquired a new manufacturing business about a year ago. This is now called HSM which is Hustler Smart Manufacturing. Which is where we do all the manufacturing of the product, from laser cutting, pressing, folding, machining and fabrication, and then that will all get transported to our HQ branch in Hastings which is where we do the painting and final assembly.

- Patrick Lawry, Operations Manager

How did you manage consumable inventory before QUICKSTOCK?

Before QUICKSTOCK we were using a Kanban system. But there came a point where it was taking a lot of management time. Obviously, cards going missing is what happens. Things not getting triggered. Euromarc approached me and proposed a new QUICKSTOCK system, and this proposal of basically having consumables on consignment was very attractive. You only pay for it if you use it. And it basically turned into a self-managing system, and we definitely wouldn’t go back to our Kanban.

 

 - Patrick Lawry, Operations Manager

What were some of the costs involved in ordering before QUICKSTOCK?

I’d say the time and freight would have been the main costs that we were enduring with the Kanban system. Which has obviously been cut dramatically.  

- Patrick Lawry, Operations Manager

Why did you decide to use QUICKSTOCK for the new HSM site?

With HQ giving us a good report on their QUICKSTOCK cabinets, it just made sense to bring it into HSM and get this whole storeroom up and running as efficiently as possible.

Previously the guys were just taking stock out and we were never knowing if the boxes were empty. And they wouldn’t tell us. So having a system like QUICKSTOCK it was easy to have it all contained in one area, and you can actually keep your costs down.

 

- David Chrisnall, Logistics Manger at HSM

Have you experienced any issues with the QUICKSTOCK system?

We haven’t had any issues with Euroamrc’s QUICKSTOCK. It’s been actually very easy to use. Especially in the factory. The one thing we don’t want to be doing is running around and finding gloves and safety glasses. It’s all there. Easy to access. We don’t have to send emails or chase them up [Euromarc]. The guys there top them up. It’s very easy and handy for us.

- Christian Leopard, Factory Manager - HQ

How do you keep control of stock using the QUICKSTOCK system?

With the keypad system at our main door we can open it up with a code that a person will be controlling the QUICKSTOCK cabinets. And that will stay open for a couple of hours to have staff getting all the goods they need. Once that’s done then the door is closed. It actually stops people just wandering in every day and grabbing 10 boxes of grinding discs.

- David Chrisnall, Logistics Manger at HSM

We have a list of all our consumables that we use. They are regularly topped up by Euromarc. We never contact them unless we have to. On a Monday morning all the teams will line up. Team leaders who only have access to the keys will open the cabinets and issue out to the boys what they need week to week.  

 

- Christian Leopard, Factory Manager - HQ

Would you recommend the QUICKSTOCK Solution to other engineering companies?

I would recommend the QUICKSTOCK system to any engineering company that uses consumables whether it is low or high turnover.

The rates are competitive, and it saves a lot of hassle. It’s worked out really well.

- Patrick Lawry, Operations Manager

 

 

Definitely would recommend it to other companies. It’s very easy to use. Very low maintenance. It’s always there, ready to go. Everything you need. If you want to add stuff to it you can. The staff at Euromarc are very easy to work with. The stuff I’ve requested has always turned up within 2 days. So yeah, would highly recommend it.

- Christian Leopard, Factory Manager - HQ