Extending Automated Inventory Management

As we’ve talked to distributors over the summer a recurring theme has been the need to improve inventory management. Part of the reason is that the frequency of new products has increased, another issue is the stocking of LED products (and their frequent obsolescence) and the third is the need to manage their overall inventory given the valuation of their copper inventory (declining) and decelerating growth which requires careful inventory management.  Another complicating factor is what is stocked at branches vs at RDCs / CDCs as consolidation continues and companies seek to “optimize” their operational platforms.  And for some companies it is relatively inexperienced staff due to retirements.

With all of these factors, we reached out to Cheryl Matz-Vlach from Pan-Pro to get a sense of how Pan-Pro, known for VMI, can help distributors as part of our ElectricalTrends Tech Vision Series.  As some may recall from years ago, Pan-Pro was viewed as “related” to Panduit, however, Cheryl advised that “Pan-Pro is a separate independent organization from Panduit, and is privately owned.  There is some commonality between Pan-Pro shareholders and Panduit shareholders.  Pan-Pro clients (manufacturers) help guide Pan-Pro product development but do not have managerial involvement.”

According to Cheryl …

For over 17 years Pan-Pro has worked in continually providing innovative tools that build and strengthen relations with Distributors (and Manufacturers in the Electrical channel. Pan-Pro’s clients include manufacturers like Eaton B-Line, Eaton Bussmann, Eaton Crouse-Hinds, Klein, Littelfuse, Panduit and Eaton Power with over 2000 distributor location relationships.

Pan-Pro provides innovative solutions that multiply the power of each company’s team, inventory assets and any ERP system’s data by linking them together in mutual pursuit of shared goals: Using company assets as effectively as possible to sell more of their preferred lines, more profitably.

• Supply Channel Optimization (SCO) optimizes the Supply Channel and automates repetitive replenishment activities with unique forecasting, probability analysis and economic modeling. SCO’s proprietary methods automatically optimize every item at every stocking location every day, for the best combination of end customer fill, operational costs and risk exposure. SCO optimizes inventory asset performance for all items for distributors of any size with any logistics strategy, including Distribution Center, Branch and/or mixed mode Distributors.

• Project Fulfillment Optimization (PFO) automatically ensures that the supply channel is completely aligned to anticipate pre-scheduled material demand and have local inventory in place at the distributor before the scheduled requirement. PFO works with SCO to maximize shipping, receiving and inventory asset efficiencies.

In May 2015 Pan-Pro again demonstrated its commitment to innovation with the release of SAVVY^TM.  SAVVY has three primary user groups: Marketing & Sales, Executives and Operations.

• SAVVY dynamically identifies supplier specific opportunities and gaps to grow sales at the product category, region and item/location level, provides boardroom views of performance results and opportunities and provides details for operations to identify root cause and drive out unnecessary costs.
• SAVVY provides instant access to information when you need it, where you need it.

SAVVY 3.0, with features specifically aimed at Marketing and Sales teams, was introduced in mid July to all Pan-Pro LEADER Program participants and their channel partners.

Pan-Pro’s development roadmap is guided by our understanding that our clients and their channel partners rely on Pan-Pro to provide more than routine inventory purchasing – that they need sales and inventory analysis tools that go beyond ERP systems. Going forward, Pan-Pro will continue to expand SAVVY, guided by input from our Electrical Industry Advisory Board and our aggressive expansion plans. PFO and SCO development will continue in sync with SAVVY.

To learn more about Pan-Pro’s product roadmap and their expansion plans, contact Pan-Pro to schedule a one-on-one executive briefing.

Given Pan-Pro’s supplier relationships focused around the Eaton platform, Panduit, Littelfuse, Klein and more, distributors may want to learn more to help potentially better manage a broader swath of their inventory.

If you utilize Pan-Pro with any of your manufacturers (or are a Pan-Pro manufacturer), please share your experience.