Operating on the airport of Amsterdam Schiphol, KES is a well-known player in the Ground Support Equipment market. Taken over by TCR, KES decided to bring their inventory planning and warehousing operations back in-house after 16 years of outsourcing. The company had lost all the knowledge it had before 2008, making it crucial to have a robust planning tool to establish a stable foundation for its assortment. The existing EAM system was inadequate for managing inventory effectively.
Decision support for inventory optimization
KES aimed to use a professional tool to determine the optimal assortment with the highest possible service level and the lowest possible inventory and order costs. Lanza was identified as the perfect tool for this purpose. It provides insights into optimal order parameters and monthly exceptions (such as peak consumption, changes in delivery times, and problematic items), which keeps the planning process efficient.
Flexible set up
During the implementation, we quickly noticed that the assortment was highly diverse, ranging from PPE and regular spares to chemicals and repairables. Each of these items had its own inventory and procurement strategy. With Lanza, we managed to standardize various use cases. However, when customization was necessary, we implemented the appropriate business rules in Lanza. Examples include setting minimum and maximum order quantities, managing part relationships, and establishing default lead times instead of relying on actual lead times.
Enabling impactful inventory strategies
Since implementing Lanza, KES has seen a significant decrease in the number of supply lines. The inventory value has increased, which was expected due to the need to purchase a large amount of stock as the in-house supplier was phasing out. This also meant holding many parts in stock that the in-house supplier did not. Despite some initial challenges and a lack of market knowledge, KES changed its strategy one day after going live. Instead of purchasing everything through TCR, KES decided to buy directly from various suppliers. Although KES lacked the personnel for this, Lanza has provided a sense of stability and confidence in managing the assortment, making it the only stable factor in KES’s supply chain at the moment.
