Industrial vending reduces costs, invoices

END USER: Cobham Electronic Systems Inc., (978) 442-4700, www.cobham.com.
CHALLENGE: Reduce costs associated with inventory management.
SOLUTION: An industrial vending system.
SOLUTION PROVIDER: MSC Industrial Supply Co., (800) 645-7270, www.mscdirect.com.

Cobham Electronic Systems Inc., Lowell, Mass., needed to streamline its inventory management system. The manufacturer’s massive storeroom—and the huge number of requisitions, purchase orders and invoices it generated—was costing the company time and money. Purchasing Manager Norm Cheever knew there had to be a better way.

“We were looking for a mechanism to control that and take the extensive workload away from not only purchasing, but from requisitions, receiving and accounting as well,” Cheever said. “I’d had experience with vending-type machines in other businesses I’ve worked at, so I knew their potential.”

Because Cobham had an existing supply contract with MSC Industrial Supply Co., Melville, N.Y., the company decided to expand that contract to cover MSC’s ControlPoint inventory vending and procurement system.

Courtesy of MSC Industrial Supply

The electronically controlled tool cabinet is available with or without an on-machine control tablet.

Courtesy of MSC Industrial Supply

MSC’s modular lockers can accommodate a range of items, including large and heavy ones.

“Our previous system involved a huge storeroom and one person writing invoices, purchase orders and requisition forms for everything,” Cheever said. “It worked, but was time-consuming and costly.”