Incito, the supply chain management division of AST Business Services, has successfully implemented the first phase of a supply chain solution for Marley Plumbing. This initial phase involves the restructuring and outsourced management of all Marley`s outbound logistics activities.
As part of the first phase, Incito has been responsible for the redesign, implementation and management of all inventory and transportation activities at Marley Plumbing`s chief manufacturing facility in Nigel.
"Incito`s offering allows Marley to focus on its core competencies, which are: the sourcing, marketing and sale of all components comprising plastic reticulation systems, used in all aspects of industry, while at the same time enabling us to improve our delivery to customers thanks to improved information flows and logistics execution," explains Dave King, of Marley Plumbing.
Marley Plumbing is a division of Marley (SA) (Pty) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Etex in Belgium. The company specialises in the manufacture and supply plastic products for the building industry and enjoys a significant share of the PVC building product market. Products are distributed through a network of branches in South Africa and agents in neighbouring states.
Incito has provided Marley with technology solutions and day-to-day management services, which extract the maximum benefit from opportunities presented by streamlined logistics processes. Benefits to Marley include real savings in distribution costs and improved service levels to its customers.
The first savings Incito was able to effect were purely in improving the efficiency of the logistics. Further savings came from controlling and optimising local delivery route choices. This required some sophisticated statistics, which are not typically available to manufacturing/sales organisations like Marley.
"The relationship between Marley and ourselves effectively made it possible for Marley to get access to supply chain technology, together with management trained by Incito, which has brought world-class logistics management within reach," explains Johan Dekker, MD of Incito.
With the physical operation running more efficiently, Incito has now turned its attention to the next phase, which will focus on extracting the information embedded over the total supply chain process. Marley needs to know where everything is at every stage of the value chain - it needs improved visibility. Incito will now begin deploying tools and techniques aimed at extracting forecasting information from Marley`s order patterns and current customer behaviour, which will be used to predict the company`s future demand requirements.
Better demand planning will lead to better scheduling of manufacturing, with economies in the manufacturing process and lower finished-goods inventories. This will result in a second wave of both savings and service improvements.
"Marley Plumbing`s sales are up, service levels are up and the costs are down," concludes Dekker. "So far, the emphasis has been on getting a firm grip on Marley`s logistics operations. The sights are now set on getting visibility and cohesion across the broader supply chain by integrating the information flow to and from customers and sharing data with non-competing companies that have the same distribution challenges. The more advanced optimisation options would not have arisen without a sound base - control over the basic logistics activities."
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The AST Group is one of South Africa`s largest Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services companies that is independent of any vendor. It is the fourth largest company overall, by market capitalisation, listed in the Technology sector of the JSE Securities Exchange.
The AST Group, operating from more than 60 sites, services large corporate and government clients throughout South Africa and has expanded to other Southern African states, Australia and the UK. Employing more than 3,500 ICT professionals, exploiting best-of-breed technology and applying international best practices, the AST Group provides services across the entire plan-build-run-leverage value creating cycle.
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