COMPANY: ACME United
WEBSITE: www.AcmeUnited.com
INDUSTRY: Consumer Products
PUBLIC: AMEX: ACU
JOHN GALT SOLUTION: Atlas Planning Suite
Results
- Customer service level increase from 92-98%
- Inventory reduction of 15-20%
- Scaled planning process during periods of growth and acquisitions
Company
For the past 150 years, Acme United Corporation has been a leading worldwide supplier of innovative cutting, measuring, first aid, and sharpening products to the school, home, office, hardware, sporting goods, and industrial markets with operations in the United States, Canada, Europe (located in Germany) and Asia (located in Hong Kong and China). Acme United is publicly traded on the NYSE and has nine main brands: Westcott, Clauss, PhysiciansCare, Pac-Kit, Camillus, First Aid Only, Cuda, DMT, and Spill Magic.
Challenge
Acme struggled to drive the adoption of its forecasting process. Though their ERP system included a forecasting module, Acme found it limited and opted instead to produce forecasts manually through spreadsheets. This process was cumbersome and left Acme unable to reach the customer level of demand, causing collaboration with sales and management to suffer. Visibility into promotions and total sales volume was virtually nonexistent. As a result, Acme’s inventories became inefficient, and their fill rates dropped, reducing their competitiveness. With customer-level planning and collaboration becoming critical issues, Acme sought a new supply chain planning system.
Solution
John Galt Solutions’ Atlas Planning Platform was selected for its flexibility, rapid deployment, and its ability to grow with their process. With Atlas’ advanced demand planning, Acme gained the ability to forecast at the customer level without manual effort. The Atlas Planning Platform enables rapid and easy collaboration with sales and management teams, increasing visibility into promotions and market conditions. Inventory Management allowed Acme to put the improved forecast into practice with optimized inventory levels.
Benefits
The Atlas Planning Platform delivered rapid and significant improvements in Acme’s planning process. Within the first year, Acme reduced inventory levels by 15-20%. Customer service levels rose simultaneously from 92% to 98%, allowing Acme to capture additional sales. Since implementing Atlas, Acme has performed several acquisitions that have added considerable volume to their planning task, but because of the new planning efficiencies, Acme has been able to keep pace with the same planning staff as before. Acme plans to implement the Rough Cut Capacity Planning module of Atlas in the near future to extend its functionality even further. “Atlas gives us all the flexibility and power we need to improve our customer relationships”, says Steve Jensen, Forecast Manager at Acme United.
"Atlas gives us all the flexibility and power we need to improve our customer relationships.”Steve Jensen,Forecast Manager
