Assessing not only the technical but also the logistical needs of a customer
fortop as a logistics partner
In addition to the technical product knowledge that we have, we are the logistics partner of our customers. We not only gauge the technical but also the logistic needs of the company.
Product at the right time in the right place
For example, one customer needs delivery of a specific product on a specific day (JIT) so that they can continue their work without having to wait for the ordered product. Another customer would prefer to have everything delivered in one go. For other customers, we ensure that there is stock at fortop. They then order on demand. Another logical requirement is to deliver per machine: all required parts for a machine are delivered in one delivery to the relevant machine. We call this "kitting".
Blind faith in our warehouse
Our warehouse is a closed warehouse. This way we minimize the chance of stock differences. The process is more manageable and that brings confidence. We can blindly assume that an item is in stock if our systems indicate this.
Shorten the processing time of packages
We work according to the "one-piece flow" principle. This ensures that the processing of packages is faster and more efficient. Because you pick something up and finish it immediately, the chance that something goes wrong is a lot smaller. In this way, you minimize your 'work in progress' (everything that is not yet ready to be sent), which ensures that you can focus more on one specific component.
With traditional batching, all packages go through the processing process simultaneously. Suppose: for each package a step in the process takes one minute and there are five steps to take. Then the processing process of ten packages takes fifty minutes. With single-piece flow, each package goes directly to the next step. This shortens the processing time from fifty minutes to fourteen minutes. 48% of the goods that we send on one day also arrived the same day (cross-dock). In this way, we can guarantee that everything that arrives will go out the same day.
A unique collaboration with UPS
Fortop has made a unique tool in collaboration with UPS. Our people developed software that UPS uses to ship our packages. Why did we do that? This way we are prepared for a possible hard Brexit. We can guarantee our customers in the UK the same lead time as they are used to from us. "This collaboration is truly unique, and we are proud of it," says our customer service and operational manager Bert-Jan.
