EPP's Supply Chain Management System

Over the past fifteen years EPP Corporation has developed a proven supply chain management system that produces maximum savings for customers. The system works as follows:

• The buyer provides drawings for all plastic machined parts that will be needed for their production over a 12-month period and gives a rough estimate of annual quantity. The quantity is not set in stone, but is necessary as a benchmark.

• EPP evaluates all the parts together as one requirement. Material needs are combined and submitted to the material vendor. The material vendor is advised that the material will be released as needed and is expected to hold the price for one year. In the end, materials saving can exceed 20%.

• Production costs are evaluated next, and reduced to accommodate efficiency improvement expectations. Parts will be scheduled and run when similar components are being produced in order to save on tooling changes. Also, machining time is often reduced each time a repeat part is run. EPP plans for these improvements and calculates the 10-20% cost savings into the estimate.

• After the annual purchase order is placed for all the parts, the only other commitment for the customer is a delivery release forecast. A 12-week forecast that updates each week is ideal. Many customers simply forecast a monthly or weekly release and adjust the quantity as needed.

• Scheduled releases minimize excess inventory. EPP holds ample inventory in the pipeline in case of a “spike” in need driven by unusual requirements.

• All parts are manufactured with strict quality standards guided by ISO procedures, SPC, and customer inspection protocol to ensure all critical dimensions are addressed. Along with the promise of dock to stock quality, the customer has the choice of receiving first article inspection reports, sample inspection reports, and certificates of material compliance for every release. This eliminates cost of incoming inspection by the customer.

There is no question that supply chain management is a paradigm shift. However if a company does the math, the pay back is enormous. The supply chain management system used by EPP accomplishes a low cost overall cost with the quality assurance and delivery flexibility provided by US manufacturing. Contact us to realize your 2010 savings today!