Inventory Management

Intelligence and Partnering for Success

We are experiencing the most robust economy in a generation. It is good news for companies large and small, helping us all grow and prosper. It is truly an exciting time to be in business, and in the segment of printing that continues to expand and provide even more opportunities.

As strong as the economy may be, we at Anderson & Vreeland know the biggest driver of our success still stems from understanding and meeting your needs as a printer and helping you succeed. As North America’s leading distributor of flexographic printing supplies and products, we thank you for your support as we continue investing in new technologies and ideas to ensure we always provide the most reliable, most innovative, and most valuable products and services available.

The Value of Intelligence

RFID CabinetAmong the most exciting technologies is one we have embraced and refined to ensure it delivers the consistent performance you expect from Anderson & Vreeland. Most of our customers tell us they prefer to rely on a single provider because it lets them order supplies and materials with just one phone call. But imagine if the phone call wasn’t even necessary.

Last September at Labelexpo we introduced VMI, or Vendor Managed inventory. VMI uses a special cabinet that identifies and reads RFID tags that are placed on every product stored inside it. This information supports your internal ordering process, and although it helps manage supply inventories, it isn’t enough for the pace of modern business. So we made it intelligent.

Leveraging Intelligence

like barcodes on steroidsSuppose you normally order eight rolls of quarter-inch tape at a time, storing them in an RFID-enabled cabinet. With Intelligent Vendor Managed Inventory (I-VMI), removing the last roll triggers an order that will automatically ship eight more rolls to your shop from an Anderson & Vreeland warehouse. That can work well, but we also know you never want to keep too much stock on hand because it can tie up cash flow. To eliminate this potential problem, we make the process intelligent. We draw on real-time data about your usage patterns to help you to manage both inventory levels and the amount of capital tied up in commonly needed supplies.

Knowing and Anticipating

For example, when that last roll of quarter-inch tape is removed from the cabinet, the I-VMI system may also notice that based on your company’s consumption patterns, you are close to being low on plate material, so it can combine shipments to save costs. Moreover, because it is intelligent, the system could actually have been anticipating your need for both items and was waiting for a combined need so both could be shipped at the same time. Alternatively, I-VMI might show that, based on order volume and frequency, your need for a particular product has increased or decreased over the last quarter, and suggest changing the order quantity—with your approval, of course—to ensure you have the most appropriate amount of the product in stock. The value is that no matter how your inventory levels may change, intelligence based on real-time data let you work without worry and with no surprises because you know the optimal volume of materials will be on hand and that your supplies budget is under control.

AV RFID Cabinet

Individualized management

I-VMI goes beyond the basics of inventory management by being tailored to your unique business needs. For example, I-VMI fosters the creation of virtual service points where you can find product information, customize replenishment schedules, or even build a unique stocking program based on a project or contract that requires a different mix of materials than you usually need. In addition, I-VMI cuts administrative and labor costs, reduces human errors on purchase orders, and handles invoicing automatically. Moreover, I-VMI fosters partnering and creation of strategic relationships between customers and Anderson & Vreeland, streamlining the supply chain and helping us better understand your business so we can make recommendations that can help your operation be more successful.

Capabilities like I-VMI align with our passion to partner with our customers and do all we can to help each one be successful. As robust as our economy is today, we know that keeping pace with change is a constant challenge and that every printer’s success depends on reliability, product quality, and consistent performance. I-VMI is the latest example of our commitment to being a partner in your success.

For more information on Intelligent Vendor Managed Inventory please visit this page or click here to speak with Dave Miller to start working on a solution custom to your specific needs