Powering efficiency
RS kitting solution has enabled a leading power company to complete a significant maintenance project.
Engineers and operations teams face different challenges on a daily basis
Having the right parts, on time and in full, to maintain assets and keep lines running is critical not only to the productivity of the plant, but the viability of the overall business. If stock deliveries arrive later than expected it can significantly impact on scheduled jobs and potentially lead to unexpected downtime.
There is also a continued drive from firms to meet environmental targets in line with their corporate social responsibility aims, both areas that need to be balanced and achieved alongside the core daily activities of the business. As one of the largest providers of industrial supplies, RS strives to understand the individual and often complex needs of its customers and tailors its service offering accordingly; aligning with the customer’s objectives, helping to improve efficiency and reduce costs, and adding value in other areas even outside of the original remit.
One example where RS has helped a customer to achieve soft cost-savings is through its kitting service. A leading renewable power company recently chose to upgrade all of its radiators. The task involved working on hundreds of radiators spread over more than 80 sites, which would take six months to complete. Each job required 23 different product lines to be delivered to engineers in time for them to complete each installation. In addition, as each site was different in terms of size, number of radiators and existing equipment, a different ratio of products had to be supplied depending on the location. The customer was looking for a way to get all the parts it needed delivered to sites on time while also minimising the number of suppliers needed to get all the products required for the work.
RS offered the customer a kitting service to meet the needs of their project. This is aservice provided by RS Local branches nationwide. The project was managed by one keycontact at RS who ensured the process ran smoothly.Once the customer had defined a final list of products, RS provided a bespoke method oforder placement, which channelled orders for this project to one of our RS Local’s so theyweren’t mixed up with the customer’s regular requirements. The parts would be deliveredinto the RS Local, assembled into kits and dispatched at the right time to the rightlocation. The project was monitored via regular calls between the customer’s procurementand electrical teams, RS Account Management and the RS Local to ensure that everythingwas kept on track.
With the radiator project now complete, the customer has been happy with how the kitting service was implemented during the six-month project. By grouping products, the company was able to leverage economies of scale to make significant savings on the product price. The customer’s procurement process was easier and required far less administration from sourcing products through to payment, which we typically see organisations making soft cost savings in this area. The RS kitting service meant raised one purchase order, processed one invoice and the kits were delivered on demand.
Flexible and supportive
RS Locals are open Monday to Friday from 8.00am until 4.30pm.
Contact your local branch now to find out what we can do for you.