In 2016, Gasunie started to improve inventory control of spare parts. For this they made use of Gordian’s parts optimization services. This service supports the inventory management of Gasunie in different ways within the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA). With the help of this method, Gasunie took a major step towards professional stock management.

As a result of this project, the stock availability has increased in a short period while the stock has hardly increased at all. In fact, after a few months, inventory actually declined, as inventory from parts, that are less required. stock decreased. On top of that many order sizes have increased, reducing the number of purchase order lines to almost 50%.

After completing the initial project phase and periodically updating parameters, Gordian introduced the Check and Act phase. In addition to viewing the KPIs, the emphasis lies on analysing the miss-performance. This analysis made clear what the causes were and therefore Gasunie was able to take targeted action to further improve performance. For example, discussions have started between the departments of procurement and logistics to better align processes and ways of thinking. Also initiatives have started to improve the requirement date of material reservations. With a minor process change, Gasunie – with some support from Gordian – has come to a rest and managed to get control over the inventory control, thereby saving time. This time is used to further improve and save even more. The logistics department is now able to tailor its inventory strategy to the needs and wishes of the other Gasunie departments.