GFX: Your solution for Inventory Control. Lean Stock Inventory System
GFX: The following short story is real. It takes place in an actual collision center.
GFX: Where the technicians are not aware that change is about to happen.
GFX: Let's join them to see how life was BEFORE the Lean Stock Inventory System.
GFX: Dave Technician Greenwood Collision Center
Dave:
I don't know if you want to call a system it's just, it's in a cabinet and that's it. When we run out of parts we go tell Diane and we wait to get our stuff.
GFX: Rick Technician Greenwood Collision Center
Rick:
I'm used to doing everything a certain way and I have everything in order from start to finish on every job. Seems to work out pretty well for me like that.
GFX: Diane Collision Shop Manager Greenwood Collision Center
Everybody hates change. They've already expressed that this is going to be inconvenient for them. But then in their own words when they do anything they expect to make a profit. So I just turn it back. That's all I expect to do, too.
GFX: Harvey Kulkin National Sales Manager Sherwin-Williams Automotive Finishes
Harvey Kukin:
Lean Stock is the beginning of the culture change and once the management has bought in and understands, ok, this is the beginning of getting my shop cleaned up, getting everything in order, having things the way they should be, everything has its place, everything is dialed in. They will find out that the technicians who do like to have things in order will start to like the system and understand how it works.
GFX: Lean Stock Inventory System
Diane:
I've been with Sherwin Williams for ten years and I'm thrilled to death about the product and the support it is a quality product. Now they're offering more and more which is great. It's it's not just always about the paint. I'm looking into the lean stock order now, when we're here today to do it. What we're doing today a little bit about what you heard about Lean Stock.
And we're going to implement today.
They know a little bit, a very little bit, about the Sherwin-Williams Lean Stock. What they don't know is that we're going to take their stockpile away.
Technicians aren't used to that. They're very protective of their products. They're always worried about Am I going to run out when I go to do the next car?�
And like somebody here just said yesterday the reason for it is not to hurt anybody it's to make everybody's job easier and it's hopefully to make more money. OK? So I'm going to turn it over to Harvey. He's going to explain how it works.�
Harvey:
All we're doing is we're going to give you a program that helps you have the products that you need, when you need it, where you need it, for the proper repair. This is your inventory, just so you understand that, this is your system even though it's the Sherwin-Williams Lean Stock System, it is your inventory. And we will help you maintain it and take care of it. Okay.
As we started to walk through the shop. We started to see technician by technician, how the inventory repeated themselves.
So, so far coming down through, we had five technicians, five cans of Bondo.
So we could see that inventory is growing technician by technician.
Once we do the walkthrough we understand what the inventory is, we go ahead, we build the racks, we assemble them, we already have pretty much in our mind set because it's pretty consistent from shop to shop.
We do not want to interrupt the technician from doing his repair. We go to the technicians first and we gather all of the product and all of the sand papers and everything they need, they stop working. They don't have anything to work with. We're going to go ahead and set up a rack first. And then as we start going through the shop, we will take the technicians inventory and we will replace it with inventory we have in those cabinets.
In lean stock, when we do the walkthrough, we start gathering all of the products from the technicians to bring to the carts, we discover a lot of things. First of all, we discover how much overstock we really have. That's the first. Second of all, we start to understand how many items we've been ordering that we didn't have on our order sheets.
Fine? Because they don't need it. Once they do their feather edge, they finalize with six, the go on their way. So here is a perfect example of being able to cut back
I've worked very closely with our vendor partners, Fiberglass, Evercoat, 3M, SAS, we work very close with them. We've brought them in with us, again, as partnership, to help train and teach our shop how to use the products, how to use them correctly and do the right repair.
Once we have everything put together we have all the inventory racks built, then we go online and we input all of the items that are on that rack onto the database. We go ahead we print the order sheets, we laminate them and then we'll go ahead and move those laminated sheets to the racks for the ordering process.
Now, a prime example of how to order, because this is your responsibility.
GFX: Day 2: Training
In the training sessions, we will take the technicians and because it is their inventory and they are responsible for it, we're going to show them how the system is going to work.
When you get down to like a half a box. That's how these order sheets are set up. Everything matches. So, position number three? You look here at position number three.
Diane:
The numbering in bins is great. They should be able to do it. Um, I don't see a problem. This is better than what I expected. It's easier than what I expected.
GFX: 2 weeks later
We've been half the month of July on this system and I have noticed the increase in our materials, net profit. So, I am I'm really thrilled about that.
GFX: Tim Technician Greenwood Collision Center
Tim:
We got to get everybody on the same page and I think once everybody starts doing it we'll be okay, but we just gotta everybody's got to do it.
Dave:
The way everything's going now, I know all my things and my stuff's at. I know I don't have to walk around looking for things going ordering materials. I mark a sheet, somebody looks at that sheet, brings me my stuff the next morning.
Rick:
So far it's worked out pretty good for me.
Harvey:
If we know anything we know paint. We're Sherwin-Williams. We know our products inside and out. What effects that? What is the outcome of the look of the vehicle that we give to the car? So we have to help teach them. That's where Lean Stock comes in because now we get them down to using the right product, following the right standard operating procedure to do that repair the right way, so the end result looks good.
If anybody is considering the Sherwin-Williams Lean Stock, go for it.
GFX: Lean Stock Inventory System
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