Vendor Managed Inventory

Over the years, Assembly Fasteners has developed programs specifically designed to meet customers' needs in managing their inventory. Our IPS (Inventory Palm System) enables inventory personnel to retrieve data at the customer's site, which is transmitted via the Internet for immediate replenishment. The RIMS (Remote Inventory Management System) is a standalone PC-based system for consigned inventory programs providing an audit trail of activity, barcode labeling and packaging. Activity is communicated via the Internet with real-time inventory views available. Traditional programs such as KanBan, Two Bin, Min/Max, Remote Fill and Bill along with Bag-n-Tag provides a wide range of programs to facilitate a varied range of customers. Our latest addition of the AFob, provides a low cost solution for multiple applications with a simple file upload to our website.

We can tailor any program to provide solutions in response to your specific needs. Our diverse product line enables us to provide the products you need when you need them. Assembly Fasteners has a deep commitment to form long-term partnerships with all of our customers. With the Value-Added Services and One-Stop Shopping we provide, you will be able to consolidate your vendor base and reduce in-place costs, enabling you to focus on your company's core competencies.

How can a weight based inventory monitoring system help you? AFI has implemented a new program, A.V.I.S. - Assembly Virtual Inventory System!

Every manufacturer, distributor or end-user of small parts, faces the challenge of monitoring and managing inventory of a large number of small parts. Certain valuable items are closely monitored using sophisticated RFID tag technologies.  However, a vast majority of parts such as small metal stampings, injection molded parts, fasteners, medical products such as injectibles, syringes, masks or gloves etc. are managed manually today.  A human being has to physically go and look at bins, boxes or other storage devices, see if there are enough parts in stock (or count them for updating inventory counts in the ERP system) and either enter an order into a system manually or use a bar code reader to scan in the parts that need to be ordered and then updated into a system.

The following challenges need to address:

• The current system is manual, labor intensive and prone to human error and delays. This can result in a stock-out situation which can be hundreds of time more expensive than the actual cost of the part itself.
• The cost of labor and the resources (vehicles, gas, wear & tear) needed to support effective performance by the team, is significant and cannot be leveraged effectively.
• Inventory managers generally stock several times the quantity on hand in order to avoid stock out situations - leading to higher carrying cost for their companies which in turn locks up valuable capital in the form of inventory on hand

Now with A.V.I.S., Assembly Fasteners Virtual Inventory System, you can effortlessly track inventory at remote customer sites using a web-based software application or via a mobile device such as the iPhone! Our weight based inventory management system offers a complete end-to-end hardware and software solution. We also offer customization for integration of the data into existing ERP and warehouse management systems and assist customers with installation, training and support.

The Key highlights of our solution include:

• Based on our patent protected digital load cell Plug & SenseTM technology
• Digital weight scales for weighing parts
• Automatic computing of number of parts in a bin
• Flexible scale sizes to fit standard bins, pallets and shelves
• PC based software or Web-based SaaS solution
• Automatic alert generation via email or SMS messaging
• Wired USB/RS-485 or Wireless connectivity via ZigBEE protocol
• Onsite installation or Hosted solution to meet your internal security needs

Key Benefits of our solution include:

• Avoid stockout of parts - provide service level guarantees to your customers
• Reduce carrying costs by reducing inventory on-hand
• Reduce labor and transportation cost & improve resource utilization
• Improve visibility into inventory levels over entire supply chain
• Avoid periodic cycle counting of inventory
• Integrate data into existing ERP or Warehouse Management Systems

With A.V.I.S., you get the utmost in products and services from a trusted supplier, with the experience and dedication to improve overall performance today and tomorrow!