In this sector, it is essential that you can distinguish yourself not only based on quality, but also in price and reliability.
Marko BV is a manufacturer of steel furniture. Although the company is even a market leader in some sectors, it faces interesting challenges. The sector of office and education furniture is under pressure. Customers demand fast delivery times, as a result of which the reduction of production times are an important point of attention. In addition, surplus capacity in the office market and the rise of cheap Chinese furniture increases the pressure on prices in this sector. To face these challenges, Marko BV went looking for a partner to streamline the processes, ensure the quality of its products and reduce stock levels. In close cooperation with Inter Access the production time was reduced by three days and the stock levels were reduced by ten percent. Inter Access mainly had a consulting role in this project. In addition, Inter Access’ ERP package Prodin-P2 laid the foundations for the improvements.
Marko BV manufactures and delivers furniture for, amongst others, education and office environments. In the primary education sector, the manufacturer is market leader. Neighbourhood societies, sports clubs et cetera also enlist the company for the production of furniture. A total of 150 employees work at its manufacturing location and the head office in Veendam and in the showrooms in De Meern and Lüdinghausen (Germany). Marko delivers to companies and institutes in the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom and Belgium. The company procures many products, including semi-finished products, from Eastern Europe. These are then processed into the final products in Veendam.
“In this sector, it is essential that you can distinguish yourself not only based on quality, but also in price and reliability,” states Jeroen van der Woude, logistics manager at Marko BV. “In addition, the diversity of products increases. Mood and looks are becoming increasingly important. As a result, we manufacture a lot of tailor-made furniture. We have to be able to deliver these products in time as well.” This requires a flexible attitude of Marko BV, in combination with optimal efficiency in logistic and manufacturing processes. For that reason the company asked Inter Access to develop a user-friendly method that would reduce the duration of production processes, streamline processes and reduces stock levels. A challenge Inter Access gladly took on.
Inter Access started energetically. The first project stage was centred on thorough analyses of, amongst other things, the durations, cost prices and range volumes. Subsequently, a schedule of points of improvements was drawn up. Based on this schedule and feedback from the management, Inter Access drew up a project plan together with Marko BV. After forming a working group with key users from the Purchasing, Production, Logistics and Planning departments the actual improvement projects could start. This working group set up a list of points of attention, which were dealt with step by step. The result was a more effective organisation that could optimally respond to customer needs regarding quality, price and delivery times.
The improvement project covered four months and can roughly be divided into two points of attention: organisation of the processes and the ERP-system Prodin-P2 and the operational improvements. Van der Woude: “We had been using Prodin-P2 for some time. During this project, the system has been adjusted in such a way that minor inefficiencies and inconveniences have been eliminated. Previously, for example, it was not possible to change the order number once it had been entered. Now we have resolved this.”
Planning has also been adjusted. According to Van der Woude the activities of three manufacturing sections of Marko BV, the welding department, the powder street and assembly, are now better aligned. “We have changed the manner in which those departments were managed, due to which we further streamlined our processes. For this so-called PUSH project, we started from the department that was most difficult in planning terms: the welding department. This was placed at the front of the detailed planning, whereby we assume a set duration in the planning of three days. Subsequently, we aligned the other two departments accordingly. It sounds logical, but you need an ERP system that supports this.” Other operational improvements that Inter Access introduced in consultation with Marko BV, were, amongst other things, moving a part of the floor stock to the assembly department. This department uses the KanBan principle. “This saves a lot of time, because it is no longer necessary to walk over to the warehouse for small materials”, says Van der Woude.
Van der Woude is very content with the cooperation with Inter Access. “We have worked together for a number of years now, whereby the role of service provider has shifted to that of partner more and more. The knowledge Inter Access has of our processes and challenges has resulted in a relationship that goes much further than supplier and customer. With this project, we have been able to reduce manufacturing time and stock levels and organise processes more efficiently. I am convinced that Inter Access’ knowledge of our organisation and activities has contributed to the success of this project.”