Revamping Supply Chain: S and Y Industries Case Study
S and Y Industries, a leader in the electronics manufacturing field, encountered significant supply chain challenges, intensified by the global parts shortage. Implementing CalcuQuote’s Material Supply Planner (MSP) revolutionized their procurement process, enhancing visibility across their supply chain in real-time.
This transformation led to significant improvements in cash flow, operational scalability, and inventory management efficiency, while maintaining workforce levels. Additionally, it resulted in increased staff morale and satisfaction. Through CalcuQuote, S and Y Industries achieved a faster and more efficient order processing system, underscoring the impact of digital solutions on business efficiency and growth
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68% reduction in missing kits
35.6% decrease in inventory levels
Processing capacity from 800 demand lines per month to 6,000 in just three weeks, saving 1,000 hours on manual tasks.
Resolved cash flow issues and ensured healthy financial operations.
Significantly boosted team morale and job satisfaction, even amidst global part shortages.
About S and Y Industries
S and Y Industries is a premier EMS provider specializing in PCBA, known for its commitment to quality and innovation. Operating in a highly competitive market, the company sought to overcome supply chain inefficiencies to maintain its leadership position and get ahead in the context of global shortage problems
Company size
50-100 employees
Customer
since 2018
Products in use
QuoteCQ, ShopCQ, MSP
Location
United States
“I think the biggest impact has been our ability to leverage existing inventory to drive down the total $$ we have tied up in inventory. Prior to MSP it was a challenge for us to manage all of our substitute components across our customer base. Having visibility through MSP has helped with that tremendously.”
Brant Littrell
Director of Supply Chain
Challenges
S and Y Industries encountered several critical supply chain challenges that threatened the company’s efficiency and growth potential:
- Scaling and Staffing Issues in Purchasing: The global parts shortage revealed significant scaling problems within the purchasing department. Despite increasing the team size, S and Y Industries struggled to keep up with demand, compounded by the risk of high staff turnover.
- Lack of Comprehensive Supply Chain Visibility: The absence of an integrated system hindered the company’s ability to have a complete view of the supply chain, making efficient management difficult.
- Cash Flow and Inventory Management: The parts shortage led to cash flow challenges, as production delays caused by even a small percentage of missing components resulted in inventory accumulation and financial strain.
- Purchasing as a Bottleneck: The inefficiency of the purchasing process became a major obstacle for the business, preventing timely order fulfillment and impacting overall operations.
- Complex Component Substitution: Without a system to integrate all relevant data, addressing complex component substitution became a cumbersome process. This lack of integration made it difficult to track order progress, identify missing components, and decide which orders could proceed, tying team members down to manual tasks and diverting their focus from strategic initiatives
Objective
S and Y Industries' objectives were targeted at addressing specific operational challenges: to enhance the purchasing department's ability to scale and operate efficiently amidst a global parts shortage, to expedite and streamline purchasing processes to prevent them from becoming a bottleneck, to gain real-time visibility into the supply chain for improved order and inventory management, and to better manage alternates and substitutions.
Solution and implementation
CalcuQuote provided a tailored Material Supply Planner (MSP) solution that seamlessly integrated with S and Y's existing ERP system. By leveraging the software’s advanced automation and analytical capabilities, S and Y was able to allocate human resources more strategically, focusing on growth and customer service.
The implementation was a collaborative effort, beginning with a comprehensive analysis of S and Y's existing processes. Through workshops and data validation, a custom deployment plan was developed and executed, focusing on staff training and system optimization.
Results
The implementation of CalcuQuote's Material Supply Planner (MSP) transformed the operational efficiency at S and Y Industries, delivering significant outcomes:
- Supply Chain Resilience. Enhanced visibility across the supply chain fortified S and Y’s resilience against disruptions with a notable 68% reduction in missing kits. This pivotal improvement has allowed them to maintain a steady production flow.
- Efficient Purchasing at Scale. The purchasing team shifted its focus to strategically managing part shortages and leveraging CalcuQuote for systematic purchasing and routine tasks, enhancing efficiency without the need to expand the team. They dramatically increased their processing capacity from 800 demand lines per month to 6,000 in just three weeks, saving 1,000 hours on manual tasks. The new system's scalability ensures that S and Y Industries is well-prepared to multiply its sales without straining the purchasing department.
- Integrated Supply Chain Management and Enhanced Fulfillment. CalcuQuote’s MSP empowered S and Y Industries with the ability to swiftly identify and manage alternative parts, reducing or eliminating the impact of supply chain shortages on production. This combined with the clear, overarching visibility of the supply chain status enabled S and Y to not only bring their inventory to optimal levels but also fulfill and ship orders more efficiently.
- Positive Cash Flow. S and Y Industries overcame cash flow issues, ensuring healthy financial operations and enabling continued production without delays from missing parts.
- Boosted Employee Morale. Transitioning from a stressful, siloed work environment to a more integrated and strategic focus significantly boosted team morale and job satisfaction, even amidst global part shortages.
- Optimized Inventory Management. Despite a much faster purchasing pace, there was a 35.6% decrease in inventory levels within 9 months. The company leveraged existing stocks more effectively, reduced excess inventory and better aligned spending with production needs.
Future plans
S and Y Industries plans to continue leveraging CalcuQuote's innovations to tackle more complex projects and further streamline their operations.
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