The results
Valmet Karlstad found the integration of CRIBWISE into its operations extremely easy. Its operatives started small, adding a few stock items at a time as their confidence in the system grew. A year later, and the use of CRIBWISE has had a profound effect on the efficiency of the two departments.
Firstly, CRIBWISE has eliminated about eight hours a week of manual labour for the operatives running them.
In the machine shop, tools are now tracked from their point of origin to their point of use on the shop floor, meaning that they can no longer go missing and will always be available for business-critical jobs.
Marcus Olsson, Warehouse and Tools Technician says, ‘We started using CRIBWISE about a year ago and right now we have approximately 700 items that we can pick and restock when they get to critical levels. It’s a great solution for us and has made my job much easier. It’s easy to use, has a simple interface and it’s really saved me a great deal of time. We couldn’t do without it now and we are adding more and more items each month.’
In the logistics department, the adoption of CRIBWISE has reduced wastage and prevented consumable items from being used for unauthorised purposes—saving time and money. Indeed, it has cut the use of gloves by approximately 50%. It has also reduced the amount of stock being held on shelves by a significant amount.
For both departments, CRIBWISE now orders stock items automatically when they are needed, meaning that the time-consuming task of raising purchase orders for these items no longer needs to be carried out. The receiving of these items is also now automated.
Given that only about 5% of the stock is owned by Valmet, with the balance owned by suppliers until it is used, the CRIBWISE system reduces the cost of ownership of these items and improves stock-control for both Valmet Karlstad and the companies that sell products to it.