VAI and Industrial Container and Supply Co. are working together to provide Industrial Container with streamlined sales and distribution processes. The company is using VAI’s cloud-based S2K Warehouse Management Software (WMS) and S2K Supply and Demand Planning applications within the S2K ERP software suite to enhance visibility into the supply chain, make smarter purchasing decisions and maintain inventory control across its warehouse.
Industrial Container specializes in plastic, glass, and steel containers in a variety of sizes and shapes for the dairy industry, among others.
To meet the needs of a growing client base and increasing customer order demand, Industrial Container requires a fully integrated, cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that leverages supply and demand planning and WMS tools to capture accurate insights of its inventory and predictive purchasing needs, while also allowing for full visibility into its warehouse operation. The company uses VAI S2K Supply and Demand Planning, which consists of forecasting to predict long-range trends, as well as seasonality for each item, and purchasing to evaluate all demand and supply requirements to create time-phased replenishment plans for each product at its location.
The cloud-based warehouse and financial management applications enable Industrial Container to effectively manage the supply chain. With VAI S2K Warehouse Management, the company can accurately predict sales, evaluate purchasing, and reduce inventory. Having the ability to monitor warehouse activities and inventory in real-time, enables Industrial Container to more accurately measure the efficiency of warehouse product movement and employees. Additionally, they can now quickly find products and eliminate locating and tracking issues.
“VAI has provided excellent customer service from the start, with a dedicated success team that is experienced in the ins and outs of our unique workflows,” said Julie Dixon, IT/Accounting at Industrial Container and Supply Co. “The VAI Cloud has also been rock solid. Even after a recent 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck our facility and severely disrupted communications, we were able to access VAI Cloud within three hours. Without VAI Cloud, it would have been days before we would have been able to get back to work. VAI Cloud was the best decision we made in insuring mission critical situations are in place.”
Doubling their data entry, Industrial Container can process orders very quickly using the VAI S2K Order Processing and Warehouse Management applications. Knowing what they have in stock, and precisely where it is, enables a streamlined process that is very efficient in pulling and fulfilling orders.
“The Inventory reporting capabilities and workflow alerts give our purchasing department real-time information to order items that are in high demand,” continued Julie Dixon. “The sales reporting and inquiries have allowed us to efficiently analyze our sales margins to stay competitive in the industry.”
“Accurate insight into inventory levels and reporting is critical for supply chain operations, which is more easily achievable to do so efficiently with a fully integrated, cloud-based ERP solution,” said Pete Zimmerman, North American Software Sales Manager at VAI. “VAI Cloud S2K Enterprise allows Industrial Container to remain competitive with the biggest players in the container and supply distribution market by providing a holistic view of the warehouse, from identifying purchasing trends to streamlining distribution.”
