[ Top ]

Material Functional Audit

• Purchasing function – reviewing the procurement policies for effective purchasing, vendor development and monitoring philosophies to create visibility, invoking supply chain management concepts.

• Inventory control – reviewing the strategies on stock decisions, movement monitoring, lead-time controlling, categorizing, prioritizing, interchangeability, inventory optimization and surplus/obsolesce handling, suggesting best practices.
• Warehousing functions – reviewing receipt, storage, preservation, handling, securing, issuing, physical verification and shelf-life monitoring methodologies and proposing global practices.
• Information management – reviewing the techniques adopted for managing information like master data (material and vendor) management, computerization and coding, and suggesting improvisation and/or best commercially off the shelf software product (COTSP) solutions.

Hofincons with its versatility in various industrial sectors, around the globe, would suggest the best practices in materials management to improve productivity, increase service levels, optimize inventory, reduce lead-time, upgrade warehouse logistics, improve vendor relations and identify key performance indicators.

MFA suggests methods for trimming down inventory, corrective measures on most company policies and counsels on best practices. Hence industries that are in need of re-engineering of the existing materials system would be greatly benefited MFA

Benefits

• To identify operational efficiencies on various avenues of Supply chain management
• Access the performance of procurement life cycle
• Analyze effectiveness of Inventory control mechanisms
• Throws visibility on warehouse management performance and it’s control mechanisms
• Highlights management of master data such as Material cataloguing, vendor master & Service master management
• Drives in Key Performance Indicators to control and monitor materials functions
• Guides to global practices for achieving excellence
• Highlights global IT practices and suggests ways to iron out gaps

Software

Materials Effectiveness Evaluation Tool– A electronic auditor to meet the global standards

[ Top ]

Structured Cataloguing and enrichment

Material catalogue is one of back bone of any Computerized Materials Management System. Materials Master or Catalogue contains the basic information of all materials handled in a company, and facilitates in purchasing or searching the material. Hofincons helps clients to build a world-class catalogue for spare parts management.

Hofincons applies following functions for material cataloguing

Data Classification

Data Classification is a process of categorization of data / item according to the global standard or proprietary schema for its effective and efficient use. The hierarchal order of representation allows organization’s supply chain function to analyze on spend viability, optimization and control.

Hofincons specialized in data classification services for the global taxonomies; UNSPSC, ecl@ss, SMD, MESC, ECCMA,., We are also conversant with development and implementing of proprietary schema, as required for specific client’s requirements. Our pool of subject matter experts with specific industrial domain are well versed with international schemas.

Data Cleansing

The excellence of the procurement business process driven by clean, complete and accurate material data. The data cleansing process is to build better data by

• identifying appropriate template
• Extraction of attribute value and population
• Standardizing the information
• Data normalization & rationalization.

Quality of the data validated at all the stages of data cleansing process and data integrity maintained among the tables by data experts

Data Enrichment

Often cleansed data is not sufficient enough to purchase the item. The cleansed data further enhanced with verity of reference sources will enable improved visibility and efficient purchasing process.

Data enrichment carried out on following sources,

• Additional data collected from Documents such as Manufacture / Vendor catalog, Engineering documentation etc.,
• Data collection from Previous purchase orders, RFQs etc.,
• Data enhanced through Manufacture’s web sites, contacting Manufacture / supplier for additional data
• Collecting data by physically at engineering stores

Hofincons with their vast exposure and experience has developed an Attribute-based cataloguing system and a conventional line-text cataloguing system.

Attribute based Cataloguing Management

Hofincons’ Attribute-based cataloguing system includes a classified hierarchy (noun-modifier nomenclature) with a structured template to capture the buying description and to cater to easy surfing of the items. This facilitates both logical and non-intelligence numbering system. This cataloguing concept is simplified by Hofincons’ ACMS Cataloguing software tool.

Line based Cataloguing Management

Hofincons’ line-text cataloguing system assigns a series of 10-digit intelligence coding scheme, representing a line text based buying description. Line-text catalogue classifies the items by its equipment and assembly levels to smoothen the search. LCMS software of Hofincons facilitates in conventional cataloguing.

Benefit

Hofincons cataloguing concepts and their skilled team facilitate the following:

• Uniform and effective Buying description
• Eliminate duplicate Items
• Provide Standard Values and Units
• Enhance Interchangeability
• Easy Navigation into Technical Details
• Enhanced data warehouse utility
• Facilitate Drill down and Roll up analysis
• Establish relation to equipment and assemblies
• User-opted intelligence or non-intelligence material codes

Software

Line-text catalogue management software – A cataloguer for materials master data with logical numbers

Attribute based catalogue management software – A search engine for classified materials master data

[ Top ]

Inventory Optimization

Hofincons’ Inventory Optimization programme, evaluates inventory norms that forms part of the plant assets, as the effectiveness of investment on inventory has a direct bearing on a company’s performance and profitability.

This program involves in analyzing the prevailing inventory policies, levels, consumption/ failure pattern, service levels and suggests the optimal purchase quantity and time. Invariably it provides the lead-time stock, safety stock, minimum level and reorder quantity.

The goal of inventory control is to map supply and demand patterns and to maintain a balance between the costs and the benefits of holding stock. This program paves way to achieve the vision of inventory control in process and manufacturing industries, especially in spare parts monitoring where the demand is unpredictable.

Scientific and mathematical formulae are applied, depending on spare parts strategies. Hofincons uses its inventory optimizing software either Spare Parts Optimization Tool (SPOT) or Risk Spare Analyser (RSA) depending upon the industrial requirements.

Benefits

• Identifies gaps where stock levels are shown to be excessive or low
• Releases working capital from being tied up in over-stocked items
• Balances buying and stocking cost
• Reduces purchase/stores activity levels
• Improves turn over ratio
• Provides a mechanism for setting stock policy
• Eases out the stock-out risk
• Enhances Service level

Software

Risk Spares Analyzer – A tool to ensure availability of critical equipment parts using risk and reliability technique

Spare parts optimization tool – An analyzer to spot the gap in inventory levels using scientific inventory norms

[ Top ]

Standard Operating Procedure

Hofincons’ Standard operating procedure (SOP) for Materials involves reviewing and developing a materials functional procedure for Procurement, Inventory-control, warehousing and master data management.

Hofincons is a premier consultancy organization that is continuously engaged in keeping pace with international developments in the field of materials management. With its varied experience, SOP manual is developed that gives the operation guidelines for all persons in the Materials Department. The defined guidelines help smooth functioning of the department.

The SOP manual broadly covers

• Policy, aims and objectives
• Functional procedures for Materials Planning and controlling
• Procedures for purchasing
• Receiving, storing and handling methodology
• Custody procedures including maintenance of records and accounting procedures for receipts and issues at stores.
• Procedure for store keeping and preservation
• Inspection methodology
• System for handling direct charge items
• Stock control and replacement procedures
• Transportation and materials handling procedure
• Management of project materials
• Methodology for physical verification and reconciliation
• Procedure for handling damaged materials
• Disposal of scrap and obsolete items
• Material performance indicators
• Delegation of powers
• Management information reports

Benefits

• Base document for achieving international certifications like ISO
• Guiding tool for adopting right procurement & inventory policies
• Reference manual for catalogue development
• Tool for driving the warehousing function
• Reference document for inspection and materials handling function
• Organization bible on materials management

[ Top ]

Stores / Warehouse Management

• Physical Verification & Reconciliation
• Stores / Warehouse layout preparation

Physical verification & Reconciliation

In order to ascertain the existence and accuracy of the inventory, physical verification & reconciliation carried out for tallying book stock quantities with physically available quantities.

Hofincons supports organization for the following reconciliation functions,

• Annual physical verification & reconciliation activities
• Identification & Classification of Project surplus materials

Annual Physical verification & reconciliation – We undertake organization with large number of Stock Keeping Units (SKU) for their annual physical verification and reconciliation activities. As an optional, we implement barcode technology, which will be extremely efficient and accurate.

Identification & Classification of Project surplus materials – Identification of project surpluses for their usability in their plant operations facilitates direct cost saving to the organization. Hofincons deploy subject matter experts for review and analyze for it’s usability. The analysis carried out on following basis,

• General condition assessment by any physical deformation, Rust etc.
• Availability of Manufacture / Vendor related information – Manufacture / Vendor name, Model no, Part no
• Traceability with test, inspection certificates
• Association with parent equipment
• Identification of suitable material code

Stores / Warehouse layout preparation

The primary objective of the stores/warehouse layout design is to optimize warehouse functions, achieve maximum efficiency with greater space utilization, Maximum flexibility towards changing storage and handling requirements and good housekeeping.

Designing process start with analyzing with current and projected data such as Existing storage metrics, SKU volumes and it’s quantities, dimensions, peak season inventory levels, company inventory policies etc.,

Analysis phase mainly focus on,

• Making best use of the space
• Better control on movement and location
• Usability of material handling equipments or automated storage / retrieval systems
• Maintain at minimum overall operating cost
• Type and style of racking equipments
• Competence level of warehouse handling group
• Adhere to HSE best practices

Hofincons helps customers on the following areas,

• Help in warehouse analysis
• Detailed warehouse design layouts on CAD drawings
• Advice on selection of material handling equipment

[ Top ]