British Sugar sees sweet savings with stores management 31 May 2013

British Sugar's plant in Wissington, Norfolk – Europe's largest sugar refinery – is reporting a ful 40% cost reduction on tools and production consumables since moving to Buck & Hickman's stock management service.

"In the two years since Buck & Hickman introduced VMI [vendor managed inventory] to our stores, we have enjoyed a 40% reduction on our consumables spend, equating to a saving of around £12,000," states Wayne Meneely, British Sugar Wissington stores manager.

"In addition, our stores staff are able to devote more time to value-adding projects, and the procurement of larger and high-value items, making the whole process much more efficient, " he adds.

Buck & Hickman area sales manager Jason Small explains that, with a stores operation covering three floors, British Sugar had a significant maintenance and production tools management challenge. Indeed, he says the initial audit took three months.

"Due to the immense scale of British Sugar's stores at Wissington, we were confident that a VMI system would not only allow stores personnel to spend more time on key projects, but also deliver a streamlined stores process to reduce costs and free up capital," says Small.

"As a result of Buck & Hickman's achievements, British Sugar is now looking at implementing a similar VMI solution at the Cantley facility, also in Norfolk," says Meneely.

Brian Tinham

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