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Integrated FAQ'sWhat is integrated supply? The Integrated Supply concept is a partnership between the supplier and the customer in which the two work together to meet jointly agreed goals, while each focuses on continued success in their core competency. The overall goal of the partnership is to lower process and procurement costs for the end user customers.
We are in the business of cost savings generation in the areas of Indirect/MRO Material Management. We do this by: Why should I partner with Ferguson? We provide value through lowering the total cost of acquisition via unit price, process, value engineering and inventory reduction savings. We have experience with customers large and small, in many industries, managing the full spectrum of MRO products and service. We have a proven record of success. Our IT associates work with a range of customer systems, and understand the need for flexibility and immediate response to our customer’s needs. We provide our associates with an industry-recognized training program. Overall program pricing always begins with a jointly defined “Scope of Work.” As the deliverables for each program are established and understood, we are able to accurately determine the resources needed to meet the program goals. Once the fee is determined, it can be assessed in a manner that fits with the customers accounting system most efficiently. Because customers prefer various methods of allocating program cost, Ferguson can include a straight mark-up on product acquisition cost, a management fee, a line item fee or even a combination of these along with a shared savings program where a portion of Ferguson’s profitability is at risk based on meeting cost reduction goals. Ferguson Integrated Services offers a variety of customized program offerings. These offerings can be group into three primary program types. The first is our On-Site Solution, where Ferguson associates will reside on-site at our customers providing an all encompassing MRO Management Solution. Our associates would hold positions including: Site Manager, Buyer, Continuous Improvement Specialist and Material Handler and would be responsible for activities ranging from Storeroom Management, Point of Use Management, Tactical Buying, Strategic Sourcing and Continuous Improvement. The second type of program is a Field Supported Program, where Ferguson Associates will visit and perform maintenance, customer support and continuous improvement activities periodically. This could be daily or one day every two weeks, depending on the size and scope of the program. Ferguson Integrated Services has Field personnel situated in most major markets throughout the US and Canada. The third type of program is our Remote Support Program where we would not have a physical presence at the customer’s site, but would have ecommerce tools and phone center support available to provide sourcing and supply chain management services. This is ideal for smaller sites with less complexity. Our service offering can include inventory management solutions that include: Storeroom Management and Storeroom Management Systems, Kanban, Automated Dispensing, EDI, and other customized solutions.
Ferguson Integrated Services uses a dedicated in-house team of programmers, systems analysts, quality assurance specialists and support personnel to build, modify and maintain its systems. This group demonstrates our understanding of the need for flexibility and immediate response to the customer-driven need for automation and software development. As part of a much larger Information Systems infrastructure, the team has multiple resources at its disposal, enabling us to leverage software advances made by Ferguson as a whole. The group has developed and enhanced software to better serve our customer needs in many areas, such as sourcing and procurement, storeroom management, automated dispensing, and Kanban. We exchange 450,000 electronic documents per month with 400 partners. We interface with Legacy ERP systems, Oracle-based application systems, MAXIMO, Mainsaver, and SAP. We interface via EDI, Palm, Internet via browser, direct B2B connect, ftp, email, and host-to-fax. We have also participated with a number of e-commerce exchanges such as TradePower, Pantellos, and Ariba. Ferguson Integrated began in 1989 as one of the nation’s first full service integrators. We now manage the procurement of $450 million in MRO products/services for over 200 plant sites in the US and Canada. We serve hundreds of point of use storage locations. Our customers include companies in the aerospace, automotive, power generation, semi-conductor and medical industries—and many other industries as well. We’ve reduced customer stock levels by up to 60% and improved stock availability to 99%. 75% of our purchases are from tier one suppliers. Typical annual cost savings are 5-10%. We've managed 1,300 electronic auctions, identifying almost double-digit savings opportunities. We’ve completed new system installations in 50 plants. Positive customer feedback on our professionalism, service, and performance demonstrate our commitment to our customers. What training do you give your associates? Our training program earned the 2003 American Eagle Award from the Industrial Distributors Association for the Community/Corporate Education category. The training program provides our associates with opportunity for both professional development and personal enrichment. Two thirds of our purchasing associates have earned the Certified Purchasing Manager designation from the Institute for Supply Management. While installation timing varies based on the specific circumstances of a particular site, some general guidelines can be defined based on Ferguson's experience. Most plants require four to six months to build a team and prepare the initial information needed to design the process to be installed. If key people from future plants have a chance to work with the teams from the earlier installations, this process can be accelerated significantly. Once the plant team completes the preliminary work, Ferguson will assign and relocate key staff members and begin working with the team more closely to begin the actual implementation of the new process. This process includes the creation of the new data files, the installation of new technologies, the set up of the Point of Use areas and initial inventory structures as well as the training of any customer personnel as required. In most locations, this process will take between three and five months to complete. Finally, when responsibility for program management and operation has been transferred, there is a nine to twelve month shake out and program adjustment period. While the activity level tends to be less intense, this is still a very important part of creating a successful program for a location. For multi-plant programs, it is best to start with one or two pilot locations so critical corporate resources (both of the customer and the integrator) can be focused on the key operations. This also allows new ideas to be developed and tested more easily. Once these initial locations are operational, much of the technical work (computer linkages etc.) will be done, making it quicker and easier to install programs in the subsequent locations. Ferguson has used its experience in over 50 plant installations to create a very complete Project Checklist and Flow Chart to help guide installations at new locations. The checklist identifies specific steps, assigns due dates and responsibilities and helps manage this very complex effort. It also has a section devoted to the customer team - who should be included, what they need to work on etc. For its portion of the implementation, Ferguson supplements the resources of the newly assigned personnel who will run the local program with specialty resources drawn from both the Integrated Divisional pool as well as the general corporate population. The latter group is used to support the 30 plus new distribution locations the company opens or acquires each year. This combination gives Ferguson the unique ability to support the most aggressive schedule. Ferguson uses a variety of temporary support personnel to help ensure programs are installed on time. Let us show you how easy it is to get started. Contact us to begin.
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