Transforming Inventory Management and Enhancing Metalworking Expertise: A Case Study on a Medical Implant Manufacturer

This company is a world-renowned, well-established, innovative subcontractor in the MedTech field, specializing in the industrial manufacturing of implants and instruments for minimally invasive, orthopedic, spinal and trauma surgery. This includes over 750,000 orthopedic implants and over 2,500,000 components for minimally invasive surgery each year.

To learn more about MSC’s BNA, our unbiased process, and data assessment of your indirect supply chain, designed to identify customized solutions to empower performance, generate savings and maximize profit potential, call us at 800.645.7270.

TOO MANY SUPPLIERS, LACK OF INVENTORY VISIBILITY & METALWORKING EXPERTISE

Conducted an extensive operational site assessment through MSC’s Business Needs Analysis (BNA) to identify opportunities to achieve this customer’s goals.

Goals included:

• Vendor consolidation

• Enhanced supply chain – JIT delivery and improved lead times

• Reduction/elimination of obsolete products (over $500K)

• Engineering visibility to on-hand inventory

• Tooling and technical support with unbiased metalworking expertise

• SOP for tool resharp and spindle repairs

MSC DELIVERED A STRATEGIC & CUSTOMIZED PRIMARY SUPPLIER PARTNERSHIP FOR 2 LOCATIONS

• Dedicated MSC In-Plant personnel for both plants

• Point-of-Use Vending and VMI inventory management

• Ability to kit jobs and ration and restrict tool access

• Resharp tool management and live tool repairs program

• MSC’s metalworking specialists’ team Ap Op™

PROJECTED 5 YR. COST SAVINGS TO EXCEED $2.5M WITH ANNUAL AVG. SAVINGS OF $500K

• MSC In-Plant personnel

• Competitive buying power with landed cost model (not additional fees)

• MSC provided 23 vending machines with 11 points of use

• Metalworking resources to reduce cycle time, improve tool life, lower scrap rate and increase uptime

• Distribution hub inventory logistics model

Established a cadence of quarterly Customer Improvement Reviews (CIR) at which MSC and the customer collectively review a “scorecard” to evaluate inventory management progress on identified goals and look for improvement opportunities for additional cost savings and increased productivity.