COMPANY: JRV
WEBSITE: www.jrv.com
INDUSTRY: Wholesale Distribution
JOHN GALT SOLUTION: Atlas Planning Platform
Results:
- 10% Inventory Reduction in Less than a Year
- Service Level for A & B Items Greater than 95%
- Increased Inventory Turns
- Reduced Delivery Times
Company Overview
JRV is a leader in the distribution of industrial products and services in Canada. With the goal of being a “one-stop-shop” for their customers, this distributor of Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) products and industrial services, offers more than 1.5 million products across its five distribution centers. JRV brings more than 75 years of experience to support its mission to simplify and optimize its customers' supply chains.
Challenges
JRV manages a diverse inventory – ranging from high value, low volume items to fast moving, low value products – resulting in a high volume of annual orders. This complexity strained resources and increased the risk of errors, compounded by challenges of analyzing inventory data and a reliance on manual processes.
Operating in Eastern Canada further complicated matters. Harsh winter weather – storms, road closures, and ice – frequently disrupted transportation and caused delayed deliveries. Adding to these challenges, JRV faced increasing trade volatility and the demands of serving a diverse customer base required maintaining a “long tail” of less frequently ordered items.
These combined challenges underscored the need for strategic supply chain planning technology to ensure reliable service and maintain a competitive advantage.
Solution
JRV embarked on a digital shift, a company-wide initiative to modernize its tools and processes to enhance service levels while reducing costs. Supply chain planning was central to JRV’s strategy. The JRV team identified a strategy to work with a company who both delivered innovative supply chain planning solutions to quickly solve their most complex challenges as well as partner with them on their journey, supporting them every step of the way. JRV selected the Atlas Planning Platform from John Galt Solutions to help power their transformation journey.
To support their mission to simplify and optimize their customers’ supply chains, the JRV team focused on developing a robust VMI program. This initiative focused on gaining complete visibility into customer consumption patterns including detailed on-site assessments – mapping every item, from individual drawers to larger stockrooms. With greater visibility into their customers’ inventory, JRV was able to quickly understand actual consumption to drive replenishment plans leading to better aligned inventory levels and higher customer service. By understanding customer purchasing habits at a highly granular level, JRV is able to proactively manage inventory and provide valuable insights – such as real-time stock levels and locations – previously unavailable. This enhanced transparency fostered stronger customer relationships and positioned JRV as a trusted partner.
Within one year of go-live, JRV achieved a 10% reduction in inventory levels while simultaneously experiencing significant changes.
JRV has achieved significant success since implementing Atlas. Service levels across each segment improved significantly, reaching 95+% for A & B items and a 20-point increase for C items. These improvements were further supported by reductions in both inventory turnover days and delivery times, showcasing a more efficient and responsive supply chain. Improved fill rates, enhanced service levels, greater end-to-end visibility, and lower working capital help support JRV’s growth goals into new markets. These successes have also helped fuel the company’s next chapter of supply chain innovation. Greater insights help drive power what-if scenarios to manage through uncertainty and risks, as well as drive the companies increase in the use of automation to focus team members on more strategic initiatives that drive top line growth and bottom-line efficiencies. Power by Altas JRV’s modern supply chain helps further solidify its leading position in the Canadian MRO distribution market.
“We wanted a state-of-the-art system to provide the best customer service possible. Atlas has really helped us move into the future of supply chain by providing the ability to map all the consumption happening at our customers' sites. This simply was not possible before. With Atlas we now have a full 360’ view and the ability to see and transfer inventory where it needs to be.”
Mathieu Theriault
Director of Supply Chain JRV
