Advanced logistical services

We work with our customers' logistics teams throughout the production process. This allows to deliver products or components within hours of being briefed. The advanced logistical services we offer is split into a number of areas:

Availability

We have the inventory to meet your product requirements. Our Mattec real-time monitoring system and Winman ERP gives us flexibility and lets us keep materials in stock without it costing us or our customers extra. And by investing heavily in IT, we're able to keep our inventory stocked to deliver a high-level logistics performance for each customer.

Operational performance

The speed and consistency of our customer deliveries. To achieve the smoothest of operations, we typically focus on delivery consistency before anything else. We then look to improve our delivery speed alongside your wishes.

Service reliability

Thanks to our comprehensive performance measurement system, we're able to determine how well our logistics is meeting your service goals. The quality of our service depends on us being able to identify which materials and components are needed, and when, from our inventory. Our high standards have been achieved over many years through careful planning and our team's commitment to continuous improvement. 

Order processing

Our IT systems let us handle all manner of customer requirements. We have plenty of experience forecasting and communicating customer requirements and our whole supply chain is balanced between proactive and reactive operations.

Warehousing logistics

We've developed an end-to-end material handling process in our warehouse to make our service faster and more more effective. Our in-factory logistics speed up product flow from start to finish.

Information flow

We have access to vast amounts of data through our integrated Mattec and Winman ERP systems - this lets us make the most informed decisions possible when it comes to planning and production, driven by product data and your individual requirements.

Kanban

Kanban is a new technique in managing a software development process in a highly efficient way. It's the scheduling system for lean and just-in-time production which attempts to maintain minimum inventory. By fine-tuning production and supplier scheduling systems we can deliver components to the production line as and when they're needed, to limit the need for storage. 

Through our electronic monitoring systems, we can eliminate common manual entry errors, provide quick and precise information, respond faster to changes, avoid overproduction, minimise waste and maintain low costs. We can also take our Just In Time manufacturing principles one step further to include warehouse replenishment - giving you real-time access to stock levels in our factory.

WINMAN and MATTEC

Our WinMan ERP system gives us control over manufacturing management, accounting, estimating and customer relationship management:

• Tooling database
• Link to Mattec scheduling
• Electronic order processing
• Customer relationship management and associated quoting system
• Barcoding of material movements
• An integrated accounting system replacing standalone Sage system
• A failsafe system using email to warn of exceptional events
• Attachment of all associated documentation to the bill of materials

Our Mattec system is connected to our plastic injection moulding machines. WinMan does the planning while Mattec performs scheduling, collects the data and sends it back to WinMan. Mattec sends its signal out every hour to show production figures, then WinMan draws down the material in Work-In-Progress (WIP) and works out how many kilos are left for precise weighing and returning to stock. Barcodes and laser scanning then provide complete accountability of raw materials and WIP control.

Winman has hugely improved our forward visibility for materials ordering, which helps customers that use polymers which have lead times of many months when it comes to order.