Stanley Electric announced the operating results of MISUMI floow, an indirect-materials automation service introduced at its Hamamatsu Plant. The service reduced the risk of glove stockouts and the burden of inventory management, while also cutting costs. It was introduced at the Okazaki Plant 1 month later.
Cargo owner MISUMI Group Inc. introduced MISUMI floow at Stanley Electric’s Hamamatsu Plant to automate inventory management and ordering for indirect materials. Previously, each department managed and ordered its own gloves, with demand forecasting difficulties and stockouts posing challenges. MISUMI floow installs a dedicated vending machine at the plant, allowing authorized employees to collect only the quantity they need. Because the vending machine remains MISUMI’s asset, the system does not create a burden from excess inventory and also supports collection controls using facial recognition and ID passes.
After implementation, the Hamamatsu Plant eliminated the workload associated with checking glove inventory, obtaining quotations, placing orders and receiving goods. Multiple employees can now operate the vending machine, removing dependence on a specific person. In addition, switching from existing products to MISUMI private-label products and reducing excess inventory cut glove purchasing costs by 20%.
Following the introduction at the Hamamatsu Plant, Stanley Electric indicated that it would deploy the same service at the Okazaki Plant 1 month later. It is considering expanding the application to indirect materials other than gloves.