Successful Inventory Management
Pictured: at the back - Steve Mailhot, Janick St-Pierre, Maxime Godin, Israel Côté and Michael Cloutier; in front - Guy Jodry and Pierre Bouchard. Absent: Carl Fortin and Guylain Côté.
The Store team expected to receive a massive influx of new parts, as major projects were planned at Alma Works. To make room for the parts and maximise the warehouse space, the employees decided to sort the inventory. This initiative was conceived by the employees and speaks to their commitment and willingness to improve their practices. We would like to commend this initiative, which led to cost savings of $905,000.
Since last December, the team has been working on checking the existing inventory. Indeed, many parts had not been used for over a decade and were gathering dust. So, the team consulted the various departments to check whether the different parts could still be used. Michael Cloutier, Supervisor, Warehouse/Store and Support Services, explained, “We checked the dates when the parts were issued and asked the relevant departments whether the parts were still useful. This let us to store the new material without having to add space. We expanded from the inside, so to speak. Outdated parts were either liquidated or sent to factories in the region.”
The team has been paying special attention to the orders placed for supplies so as to avoid ordering errors and reduce expenses. The upward trend in cost savings in recent months is very encouraging.
The project has been presented to the regional management committee so that other plants can follow suit with this new and proven system.
