Stanley Electric, which manufactures automotive lighting, switched indirect-materials management at its Hamamatsu Plant to a JIT-style model and reduced glove purchasing costs by approximately 20%.
At the Hamamatsu Plant, gloves were previously managed and ordered separately by each department, making demand difficult to forecast and resulting in stockouts and excess inventory. The introduction of MISUMI floow established a system in which employees could collect only the required quantity on site, while vending machines automated and simplified the process from quotation through delivery.
After implementation, concerns about stockouts were eliminated, and multiple employees could share operations according to their work schedules. Switching to MISUMI private-label products, which are less expensive than the previous products, and optimizing inventory reduced glove purchasing costs by approximately 20% over about 2 years.
The company deployed MISUMI floow horizontally from the Hamamatsu Plant to the Okazaki Plant and indicated that it would expand the service to indirect materials other than gloves. The on-site vending machines are linked to the company’s inventory management system, enabling immediate supply when needed.
MISUMI floow aims to optimize the procurement of indirect materials at factories by enabling digital transformation and supply based on demand data.