Case Study:

Inventory & Tracking

In this example, Agile Embark is used to meet specific inventory management and tracking needs for a large manufacturer selling online.

Scenario

A manufacturing plant with an extremely large amount of product types was facing inventory struggles. Many product types have very specific storage needs, therefore making it hard to manage efficiently bases on physical storage, routing, and rapidly fluctuating levels.

Challenges

Inventory management is often a challenging task for industry-standard use cases. In this case, specific items require unique storage properties, locations, and meticulous management. This complexity ruled out virtually all available inventory applications.

Additionally, the nature of their business model causes inventory to change rapidly and frequently. This constant fluctuation demands an accurate and versatile solution to enable proper tracking, reporting, and movement.

Compounding these issues are the requirements for real-time data visibility and seamless integration with other business processes. The lack of a robust system results in inefficiencies, increased errors, and significant time spent on manual adjustments and audits. This environment necessitates a highly adaptable inventory management approach to keep pace with the dynamic nature of the business.

Identified Issues

Item Specific Needs: A wide range of specific product requirements resulted in significant variations within inventory types and storage locations.
Movement: Numerous complications arose when moving products into, within, and out of inventory due to diverse special requirements.
Manual Management: The client was confined to a manual inventory management system because a suitable digital solution did not exist.
Lack of Data: Manual inventory management led to discrepancies and inconsistent data, complicating production planning and internal work orders.
Always Rushed: Delays in obtaining accurate inventory levels caused frequent rush order situations.
Integration Issues: The absence of digital inventory tracking made it impossible to integrate data with ERPs or other reporting systems without manual input.
Scalability Challenges: Heavy reliance on human input, without automation, meant the only way to scale was by adding personnel or extending hours for existing staff.

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Solutions

Agile Embark was utilized to create a management system tailored to handle complex inventory logistics with specific needs. The flexibility of our platform allowed the client to convey their current methods to our consultants, who then designed a digital replica of their existing system.

Our consultants identified key areas for implementing custom automation and reducing user input. This enabled the client to manage their inventory precisely as required. Additionally, our dedicated development team ensured seamless integration of the new data with multiple third-party systems.

Implemented Items

Location Management: An administrative system was designed to allow the client to quickly and easily create and edit inventory locations, types, and specialty criteria.
Tracking & Analytics: Various tracking mechanisms were implemented to quickly identify and address any issues.
Real-Time Notifications: Multiple alerts were created to immediately notify the appropriate channels when issues arose.
Planning: The newly acquired data was immediately utilized in several planning systems to improve efficiency.
Reactive System: An advanced system was established to constantly monitor inventory levels, adapting to sporadic inventory changes.
Flexible Storage: The system was designed to manage products stored in non-standard locations, providing greater flexibility.
Integrations: Multiple integrations were made with existing systems to ensure seamless data flow and operational continuity.

Results

This client quickly took advantage of the flexible modularity of Agile Embark. We followed our standard iterative process, rapidly producing working prototypes of the required items for review and refinement. This approach significantly shortened the time from concept to production.

Additionally, our consultants identified areas for improvement, which encouraged the client to become even more involved in the development process. Once they realized the power and potential of Agile Embark, the project evolved from merely replicating their existing processes to over a year of ongoing alterations and improvements.

Their growing understanding of the Agile Embark platform allowed them to continually assess their current processes and make necessary adjustments. This resulted in a collaborative partnership that continues to thrive today.

The client has consistently relied on Agile Embark to replace third-party systems that didn’t fully meet their needs. As a result, a significant portion of their operations is now managed using the Agile Embark platform.

The Numbers

Efficiency: Manual entry of inventory levels at scale is a thing of the past.
- Time Freed up: A significant portion of the department supervisors has been refocused since it is no longer needed for manual tracking
- Accuracy: Inventory levels now use scanners and bar codes to ensure correct product information and quantities
- Flexibility: The specific requirements for storage needs are no longer a memory game. Employees are directed to the proper areas and grouped with similar items if possible.
Employee Adoption:
- Iterative Implementation: By using an iterative modular approach, specific positions were switched to the new system as modules were completed.
- Learning Curve: Incremental implementation created an environment where user adoption was more successful.
- Feedback: Knowing they had full control of every aspect facilitated an environment where feedback was praised.
Reduced 3r Party Costs: Previous to Agile Embark, this client was using a minimum of 6 different 3rd party applications in conjunction with manual processes. Now it’s all in one place, intutitve, and providing the ability to have multiple levels of overview.
Valueable Data:
- Access: Now all their inventory data is available in real-time via a real-time dashboard.
- Making Decisions: Inventory data is now integrated with internal ordering which has resulted in more efficient planning.
Movement: Several custom management views have been implemented to facilitate the flexibility needed for rapid changes. This has all but made incorrect counts extinct.

More Case Studies

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