Management + Systems

To help manufacturers in growing industries innovate, disrupt, and create value, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) provider TFC has partnered with Inventor-e to launch VMI Smart Solutions.

This customisable portfolio of solutions leverages Inventor-e’s ‘real time’ technology to complement TFC’s decades of experience delivering VMI solutions, ultimately giving manufacturers better visibility and control over their supply chains.

VMI Smart Solutions are enterprise level, Cloud-based supply chain management solutions. They give customers ‘real time’ visibility over who is using what and where in a manufacturing facility or warehouse, to vastly improve health and safety, security, compliance and part availability. 

The solutions are powered by technology from Inventor-e, including state of the art Cloud-based software, Sourcerer™, which controls the supply chain for Inventor-e’s range of patented inventory management solutions. These include stores management, industrial vending, asset management, van stock management and point of use solutions. The equipment uses technology including weight sensors, near field communication (NFC), passive Gen2 RFID, Bluetooth Smartie™ tags and smart Apps.

Customers will benefit from on time production, smarter stockholding and local support from TFC to bring about positive cash flow benefits, facilitate growth and enhance profitability. By keeping equipment in a secure and controlled location that can be easily accessed by authorised personnel, VMI Smart Solutions gives employees the right equipment, at the right time, so they can efficiently do their jobs. All systems are flexible, so they can be easily scaled up or down based on demand to reduce overstocking while preventing stockouts.

“This partnership will make product availability easy in even the most unpredictable manufacturing environments,” explains Dean Henry, owner of Inventor-e. “Inventor-e is a progressive business that builds disruptive VMI solutions for customers to use as an engine for growth. We’re excited to be working together with TFC Ltd to facilitate profitability, productivity and peace of mind for manufacturers by bringing VMI Smart Solutions to the market.”

“TFC recognises that with VMI, a ‘one size fits all’ approach is never the answer,” comments Chris Billinge, business development director at TFC. “VMI Smart Solutions are tailored to an individual customer’s need, drawing on our decades of experience in supply chain management – combined with industry leading technology from Inventor-e. For customers where traceability, control and visibility are a priority, we can give manufacturers exactly what they need.”