Plumbing News

Plumbing Industry VMI Programs Accelerate in First Half of 2016.
Elkhart, Gastite and Matco-Norca All Launch VMI Programs w/Advanced Datalliance Platform Oatey and Winsupply Share Value of Their Vendor Managed Inventory Experiences.

Datalliance announced today that another three plumbing product suppliers have formalized their plans to launch Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) programs and selected the cloud-based Datalliance VMI platform as their technology foundation. The companies include: Elkhart Products Corporation — one of the world's largest manufacturers of wrot copper fittings, Gastite — a leading manufacturer of flexible gas piping and Matco-Norca — a leading supplier of globally sourced, code-compliant plumbing & PVF products.

All three companies either have or will soon launch their VMI programs with key wholesalers. They join plumbing industry leaders such as Anvil International, Apollo Valve, Canplas, Gerber, Swagelok, Ward Manufacturing, Watts Water and others who are already offering VMI programs based on the Advanced Datalliance platform.

Barbara Philibert, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Oatey, expressed the supplier view, saying: "Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) has been a great collaborative effort between Oatey and our wholesale partners. Together we are rapidly growing sales, systematically optimizing inventory levels and consistently lowering purchase order costs. Through VMI, we are strengthening and deepening our wholesaler relationships, focusing on the many opportunities to grow together."

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Confirming the growing interest in VMI by wholesalers, Michael Magee, Manager of Shared Purchasing at Winsupply recently said: "Winsupply is rapidly expanding Vendor Managed Inventory relationships. We are targeting 25 exclusive supplier partners for this business growth initiative. Our experiences with the VMI process have improved overall service levels while maximizing our supply chain effectiveness. In addition, VMI enables our team to focus on growth by aligning strategically with our primary suppliers.

To exceed our corporate growth goals, we need the expertise our suppliers bring to the table; especially on the always changing product assortments and constant new product introduction opportunities." John McKenzie, Director of Supply Chain, Winsupply added: "The VMI process is so critical towards achieving our corporate objectives, we have adopted the process across multiple layers in our organization. Collaboration has long been part of the culture here at Winsupply — it's at the front of our successful business partnerships."

Tom Hoar, Director Industrial, said: "The plumbing industry has now documented and proven out the value of the VMI process; thus diminishing any real risk. Growth oriented suppliers and wholesalers alike are looking to expand and scale the use of this collaborative business process — just as several other industries have done over past years. We are rapidly expanding our Datalliance VMI supplier community, fueled by positive performance metrics and results from customers like Oatey. Wholesale partners like Winsupply are consistently realizing positive gains from their respective VMI relationships. By utilizing our Advanced VMI service, each of our partners are dedicating more time towards developing strategies around increasing sales and optimizing product assortments that better service the end customer."

About Datalliance
Datalliance is the world's largest independent Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) service provider. Delivered as a cloud-based platform backed by extensive customer service, Datalliance VMI makes it easy for suppliers and their customers to establish sales and inventory management relationships that fully align business objectives, improve collaboration, and streamline supply chain operations. Datalliance manages billions of dollars in orders, millions of SKUs, and thousands of locations worldwide for leading companies in consumer, industrial and healthcare markets. For more information about Datalliance, visit www.datalliance.com.