Bodyshop solution crosses the line
Stock management technology created for automotive bodyshops is now on track to have an impact in the rail industry, with RVEL selecting ACIS’ web-based ASCRIBE technology to automate stock control throughout its coachbuilding operation.
ASCRIBE is an online stock management and ordering solution that provides real-time management stock level intelligence, as well as generating electronic replenishment orders.
It uses a barcode scanner to order products and allocate them to operatives efficiently, reducing waste and enabling instant stock valuations at the click of a mouse.
RVEL, a train refurbishment company which counts Network Rail, Great Western Railway and Direct Rail Services among its customers, is already using ASCRIBE for management of both paint and dry goods.
It has identified savings on purchases of consumables of around 18%, but the main benefits are in the reduction of stock holding while reducing the number of supplier deliveries to once per week.
It also uses the system to manage many of its other normal bodyshop suppliers, reducing the number of invoices and paperwork throughout the company’s supply chain.
It is now looking to roll the solution across the rest of its plant at Derby including mechanical and electrical.
Dean Humphreys, paint facility manager for RVEL, said, ‘We currently use ASCRIBE to completely manage our main suppliers, place orders electronically and to accurately cost out individual jobs.
‘Our main stockholding is on paint and consumables purchased through Supertune Automotive Ltd, an ACIS distributor. The system has reduced the stock and allowed us to operate with fewer deliveries. I am very confident that while the system is already providing cost savings, there is more that can be achieved.
‘A major element of the system that I now fully intend to maximise is ASCRIBE V1.2 which also optimises individual operatives use of the products.’
Ian Dalgarno, ACIS national account director, said: ‘RVEL has recognised that there are savings in time, paperwork and materials to be made through the use of our system. We know it works because the system was designed alongside some of the most experienced parts managers in the business who recognised that the reduction in paperwork and time-consuming activities associated with a busy parts department were time and cost savings worth having.
‘Since ASCRIBE’s introduction into some of our key accounts, and the subsequent evolution to version 1.2, we are producing average savings of 20% on consumables being used in the bodyshop, and in some cases much more. Thanks to RVEL we now have the confidence in taking our system outside of the traditional car bodyshop market.’
