![]() ![]() "One of the biggest wins was getting the point-of-use tool cabinets in here, getting the vending machines here on the floor at the point of use,” said Walsdorf. Anything that’s new, we bring it to them because we know they’re the type of customer who’s going to embrace it and help us get better.”įastenal also tracked item usage from every part of the plant so that a detailed, accurate plan could be created to put vending machines in the best locations: near workers but not in the way of their workspace. They challenge us in everything that we do well. Our metalworking specialists are engaged. “Every aspect of what makes Fastenal good, Pierce embraces it,” said Troy Parkos, regional vice president, Fastenal. Now, with the general goal of a faster, smoother supply chain, and specific aims of reducing the walking time and cutting down on ordering and stocking, Pierce again turned to Fastenal. ![]() Pierce was one of the earliest adopters of Fastenal’s vending technology, so the company was familiar with how the service could help improve production. For Pierce, this would mean no longer filling bins or placing duplicate parts orders workers could focus on production-related tasks. Fastenal would handle making sure the right parts were on hand. This would bring full-time Fastenal employees in to aid and assist Pierce’s existing staff, shifting the responsibilities of ordering, stocking, and general inventory management away from Pierce’s team. To improve the supply chain and offer new efficiencies, Fastenal introduced the idea of an onsite solution. The ideal solution would free up employees from ordering and stocking and also from walking and waiting for supplies. ![]() Pierce wanted to find ways to reduce the time employees weren’t on the line and gain visibility into exact inventory levels. “We need to meet those needs of the customer and work through the supply issues that that causes.” “With the customization of these fire trucks, it makes it very difficult on our supply chain to manage all of those changes and differences,” said Matt Leslie, Pierce’s commodity manager. Walking to get parts and waiting for them to be handed out was wasted time that Pierce employees weren’t able to spend on vehicles. In the past, employees had to walk over to a single location for parts, record the transaction on a piece of paper, and then have another person enter that information into a computer for record keeping. This led to duplicated orders and bloated inventory – not to mention all the work involved with manually stocking bins and disposing of packaging. Pierce has multiple facilities spread across Appleton, Wisconsin, and each was ordering their own parts. HAVING WHAT'S NEEDED RIGHT WHEN IT'S NEEDED There’s constant flux of how this product is built until the customer comes in to accept it,” said Terry Walsdorf, an engineer of fire suppression systems for Pierce. ![]() We can’t drill down every different nut and bolt that might be used on the truck because they’re different configurations. “One of the complexities of our product is we build custom. And today, with their fire and rescue vehicles in such high demand, they look for opportunities to speed up production and improve their supply chain. In business for more than a century, the company is no stranger to growing and changing with the times. Each unit that rolls down the assembly line is fully customized with equipment that can pump thousands of gallons of water per minute or extend a ladder 107 feet up to a building. That’s exactly what Pierce Manufacturing does as the nation’s largest producer of fire apparatuses. When the goal is to build vehicles that save lives, you need to use quality parts and stay focused on the job. ![]()
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