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DeVilbiss Air Power Company, headquartered in Jackson,
TN, is a leading manufacturer of air compressors, air
tools, nailers, staplers, generators and pressure washers.
A subsidiary of the Pentair Tools Group, DeVilbiss'
main facility in Jackson has been an FBJ customer for
over five years.
DeVilbiss sought to improve the handling of their large
quantity of label commodities and redress inventory
over-stocks. In addition, production had been suffering
setbacks due to late deliveries as well as set-up snafus
that could not keep up with daily changes to the line.
A quality review revealed an improvement opportunity
that could drastically reduce production costs as well
as the "soft costs" associated with work stoppages.
FBJ introduced a supplier-managed inventory ("SMI")
program to reduce inventory and allow just-in-time delivery
of label products.
An FBJ On-site Specialist services day-to-day needs
five days a week, managing a label inventory of over
600 sku's, setting up parts prior to line changes, delivering
product to the floor when needed, and re-stocking parts
in accordance with MRP. Full-time access to an FBJ on-site
specialist means that DeVilbiss receives an immediate
response to engineering and quality issues as well as
commodity support for new product development. In its
first eighteen months, FBJ's customized SMI program
for DeVilbiss reduced inventory by over 25% and lowered
stopped shipments due to graphics outages from 39% to
less than 5%.
In 1999 and 2000, we proudly accepted DeVilbiss supplier
awards for "Best Delivery" and "Responsiveness." In
1999 we accomplished delivery goals despite an unforeseen
100% increase in generator and compressor sales to meet
customer's Y2K demands. In 2002, Pentair Tools Group,
parent company to DeVilbiss, decided to commence a Supplier
Alliance with their top suppliers. FBJ received an opportunity
to bid for the remainder of the graphics commodity business
within PTG, whose other divisions include Delta Machinery
and Porter Cable. Over 40 suppliers were considered
during the bidding process, in which PTG inspected facilities,
considered direct and indirect cost savings such as
value engineering, and reviewed track records of dependability,
responsiveness and technical support. FBJ in turn began
a Total Customer InvolvementSM assessment to
determine PTG's exact commodity requirements. A team
from FBJ met with teams from individual facilities within
PTG to discuss how we would approach the alliance. This
entailed gathering all information relevant to our commodity
management program and re-emphasizing our commitment
to respond to DeVilbiss as we had in the past.
Our excellent record of customer service and cost savings
were determining factors in our favor, and in March
of 2003 we were pleased to be received into the PTG
Supplier Alliance. FBJ soon began production of printed
materials for DeVilbiss' second facility in Decatur,
AR, and all other PTG divisions. Says DeVilbiss, "FBJ's
reaction time in many instances has been above and beyond
the call of duty, which has aided DeVilbiss Air Power
Company to meet its customers' demands."
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