An Inventory Management System Success Story

The increased demand and evolving customer realities as caused many manufacturers to learn how to adapt to the varying market demand. One of the nation’s largest manufacturers for netting products called InCord began experiencing significant growth and increased demand.

The best way InCord could handle this influx was by partnering with Connecticut State Technical Extension Program (CONNSTEP).

The Connecticut State Technical Extension Program (CONNSTEP) is a NIST MEP affiliate who helped InCord solve their inventory management and lead time issues.

InCord produces netting for sports sites, amusement parks, orchestra pits, construction sites, automotive bays, warehouses, homes and gardens, and a variety of other industries.

The high demand of netting products from these various industries has caused the company’s ordering process to lag and InCord was having a hard time keeping up with customer-requested lead times. Eventually the company’s assembly process was running out of work as they waited for materials to be shipped from their supplier in Germany.

Luckily, CONNSTEP was able to collaborate with InCord to improve their inventory management plan. According to NIST MEP, the solution was a “replenishment pull system” that ensured materials were replenished frequently and at the same rate that the customers were ordering them.

“There’s no rushing, it’s very calm here. Yet, we’re shipping so much. It doesn’t look busy, and that’s perfection because it means everything is under control, and everything that must be done is getting done,” says InCord COO.

The CONNSTEP and InCord partnership ended up creating 8 new jobs and increased sales to $3.5M.

The Manufacturing Extension Partnership remains committed to strengthening American manufacturing and helping companies like InCord overcome hurdles and increase sales. MEP is dedicated to helping America’s small manufacturers and is located in all 50 states.

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