ERIKS UK has launched an engineering stores reorganisation and optimisation service, Storeroom Services. ERIKS has the expertise and product sourcing resources to enables it to project manage a storeroom move or transformation from initial review through to full product restocking and software installation. With Storeroom Services contracts ranging from £5,000 to £500k ERIKS is able to find significant savings in virtually any size of engineering stores. The service hqs saved tens of thousands of pounds for companies as wide ranging as national aerospace companies to global food manufacturers.

Engineering stores are notoriously difficult to maintain efficiently, or move from one place to another; often hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of stock is held, with many items becoming redundant before they are used. Inefficient stores can have serious implications to a company's bottom line, with over-stocking due to a lack of information, hard to find maintenance items affecting uptime, and an undefined cost base sitting on-the-shelf. There are also basic health and safety implications to a disorganised engineering stores.

Store room services offers:
Greater spending control.
Greater value for money.
Greater return on assets.
Improved parts availability.
Enhanced stores function.
Improved maintenance, repair and operations efficiency.
More effective resource management.
Greater compliance with the supply chain.
Enhanced leverage with suppliers.
Improved working environment.

A store room that is inefficient can affect a company on many levels. As well as the storeroom manager, who will not be able to stay on top of stock levels, production up-time will be affected by the quality of stores and the availability of replacement stock. Finance managers may also have no way of tracking individual stock items and their cost.

While it may be clear to a large number of staff that storeroom management presents a problem, it is less clear how to begin to develop an efficient stock management system. Fortunately ERIKS now offers an end-to-end Storeroom Service, the only industrial products and services company to provide this.

How the storeroom services work
ERIKS will carry out an initial inspection of the site's engineering stores and identify all the products in stock, this registers any cases of over or under stocking and helps identify any obsolete items. Once the stock has been checked it is audited to determine the value of the stock holding, allowing holdings to be minimised.

After stock identification the storeroom is sorted and a stocking system or 'Process Map' is created that allows products to be held in an efficient and safe manner, making stock checks easier and providing quick access when needed. Items are arranged by size and product type and a logging system is implemented which can provide automated stock updates.

One important process in creating an efficient surplus stock store is ensuring that the physical holding's is appropriate. ERIKS will asses the current storage rooms and may recommend installation of additional shelving or even moving the engineering stores to a new location. ERIKS is able to project manage any potential changes completely, negating the need to secure separate building services.

As well as physical holdings, it is important to keep data organised and updated in order to run efficient stores. ERIKS removes duplication and error in records and insures that valuable information, such as supply source and price, is included. This delivers an accurate depiction of stock levels and worth and creates a high level of transparency to the supply line.

Finally, after the stock has been audited and recorded and the new Process Map has been tailored to the clients needs, ERIKS ensures that all changes are implemented and any necessary installations are completed. ERIKS can provide shelving and storage bespoke to each application. It also offers staff training programmes to ensure that the new system is understood and maintained, any stock management software can also be installed if required.

Storeroom Services Example
ERIKS has recently worked with a large Gypsum Plant in Cumbria that had identified the need to run its stores more efficiently. During the initial on site visit, Storeroom Services was able to identify a number of key problems within the plant's stock management system and create a unique process map which helped the plant start to find savings almost immediately.

It was found that the plants problems could be attributed to the manner in which the stock was stored. The products were held in the open in main storerooms which meant they were susceptible to dust contamination. The stock was not held with associated product types stored together and AA spares were indistinguishable from standard stocked lines. In all, a poor visual management system had made finding and identifying stock extremely difficult.

Using ERIKS know how, Storeroom services was able to identify areas where additional storage facilities could be established which were free from contamination risk. The new stores are stocked in product size and type order with simple visual management of the AA class machine spares. In order to ensure that stock-holding are kept at an efficient level a traffic light system has been introduced to highlight low stock levels.

ERIKS is the only industrial products and services company to use its expertise in organising and managing storerooms to provide an end-to-end storeroom service. As a result of its work at the Gypsum plant the risks of stock-out and product contamination have been virtually eliminated, reducing the risk of costly downtime and having to replace damaged stock items. In total stock holdings has been reduced by £97,000 (YTD); min/max reviews saving £69,000 and obsolete products saving £28,000.

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