British American Tobacco have been using the sparesFinder Virtual Pooled Inventory (VPI) service to provide cross-site visibility between many of their plants around the world since 2000. By uploading data from their inventory systems at each site they created a central database, powered by sparesFinder, and accessible to all their spare parts managers. With a strong implementation team and leadership from board level, they have achieved significant ROI every year.

Improved Customer service

Siemens subscribed to our Supplier Enablement service, originally using an open access bespoke webpage to enable their customers to search their spares inventory from their own website. They later decided that they wanted to publish more information and also to see what kind of parts were being searched for. By upgrading to a secure supplier's webpage, which requires users to register first, Siemens can see who is searching their catalogue, the parts they are looking for, and how often they select a part and request further information. As Bryn Roebuck, After-market Commercial Sales Manager said:

"The service we have received from sparesFinder has been excellent. The overall package works well and is heavily used by internal and external customers."

Rapid reporting solution in the USA

A major oil company has used Insight to provide a rapid data warehouse reporting system across all their US-based refineries. The quick access to key inventory data has allowed a major inventory reduction programme to be initiated and the system is being rolled out to other locations around the world.

Easy to use visibility solution

In Ireland, ESB used sparesFinder to enhance the visibility provided by their existing inventory management system. Their particular system, in common with many, was complex to use, requiring a significant investment in training, and not accessible throughout their organisation. With VPI delivered directly into their secure Intranet, with their corporate look and feel, all staff had ready and familiar access to the key stock information.

Emergency parts found quicker and cheaper

The head of the supply and procurement department of Australian Energy company, Apache, sent us the following e-mail:

"We recently used sparesFinder to search for urgently required line pipe for forming riser bends for the fast track Simpson field development near Varanus Island and identified a UK company that held inventory. Not only could they supply the motherpipe from stock but also the forming of the bends. Compared to the best competitive price we received during our normal tender process we have saved AUD $ 105,726 (a saving of approximately 50%), plus improved delivery by 2 weeks. The use of sparesFinder is now a regular part of our project purchasing process as it is a quick and effective means of sourcing information."

A potentially expensive disruption solved for $100

Engineers were doing routine maintenance on one of their customer's turbines. Unfortunately they found that they were out of the specific grease they needed and their usual suppliers weren't able to supply it for 3 months. Despite being a low cost item, the missing grease was creating an expensive disruption. The engineers turned to sparesFinder VPI service. After finding the grease in two locations, they agreed a price of $100 with one of the holders, and received it in the post two days later.

Essential part found within own organisation

In South Africa, our customer had an outage and needed a spare quickly. Before they went back to the manufacturer, they accessed the sparesFinder VPI database and discovered the part they needed at one of their own plants. The organisation not only avoided extended downtime but also saved 80% of the cost of a new purchase.

Sourcing reduced from 6 weeks to 48 hours

A production line in Romania went down, and the critical spare was found using our VPI search engine at another company site in Southampton. With a lead time of six weeks to get the part from the supplier, the plant manager flew to England to collect the part, and managed to get his plant running again within 48 hours.