
A customer was fabricating their own hex flange bolts because there was nothing on the market that met their needs. Our Service Technician offered to help.
Typical VMI service is aimed at making sure bins are full. We train our Service Technicians to look beyond the bins. With their eyes open to their customer’s entire operation, they are often able to alleviate problems that the customer was assuming could not be solved.
One of our Service Technicians saw that his customer was making bolts by welding a flange nut to the top of a threaded rod. He knew there was a better solution.
We had samples fabricated. Our first try was good but not great. We asked the customer for more detailed information about their ideal bolt. We learned, for example, that the bolts were being used in a high-temperature environment that put them under unusual stress.
Color coded heads: brilliant. We also learned that our customer had been painting the bolt heads different colors to help busy technicians quickly see which was which. This simple idea saved time and reduced the chances of mistakes: orange bolt out, orange bolt in. We offered to create a drawing for more durable bolts, retaining the genius color coding.
We designed even better bolts. Stronger and built for high-temperature applications, but just as colorful.
We got our vendor on board and delivered the print. They recognized a great solution when they saw one and got to work making bolts. They even offered to paint the heads for us (and our customer).
Our customer loved the bolts. They now have an exact part, per print, color coded for easy identification. The parts are more durable—which helps with safety concerns, too. And with our VMI service, they never have to worry about running out.
Contact us to find out how our Vendor Managed Inventory program can help you.