Strengthening the Supply Chain

When it comes to manufacturing, no matter the industry, there will always be a wide range of distributors that have the right components, the right reach, and the capacity to become a part of your supply chain’s processes. Contracts will be signed, commodities will be supplied, and your lines will depend on that distributor to keep production moving as normal, day in and day out.

Ideally, this sounds like a pretty simple answer to keeping your facility running at full speed.

But if there’s one thing we’ve learned in over 70 years of business at Würth, it’s that inventory management is more complex than providing a commodity and agreeing to a contract. Creating a complete solution for your supply chain takes more than parts and pieces – it takes real people with real strategies who are willing to go above and beyond for your business, every day.

That’s why at Würth, we take pride in not just being another contract our customers sign to fill a void in their supply chain. We’re a partner that’s dedicated to working alongside each of our clients. We ensure that as a team, we are setting the right processes in place to meet business goals, raise quality standards, and keep production lines moving the way they should.

With over 72,000 employees worldwide, we’re confident that what sets us apart from the competition is our people. From the way we train our teams internally to the way they go the extra mile for our customers, their influence can be found within every facet of our operations.

Putting People First

“At Würth, right up front when we first meet a customer we seek to understand their full business. What they face in their day-to-day environment and their markets,” Director of National Accounts, Todd Aronson, said.

As a distributor of everything from C-Parts and specialty fasteners to safety equipment and more, we work with a wide range of industries to provide supply chain solutions – but that doesn’t mean every customer’s solution looks the same.

For instance, when a leading manufacturer of consumer products who was frustrated with their current supply chain provider reached out to us, our team’s first move was a complete tour of their facilities. We wanted to get a first-hand look at how they operated, get a complete analysis of what a transition to our services might entail, and have open and candid conversations with their team to get a personal perspective of where inefficiencies were taking place.

By taking a deep look into their processes, we were not only able to develop a long-term plan that would improve their bottom line – we were able to correct their invoicing issues, determine that we could save 30-40% floor space with our racks and bins, and create more transparency and visibility of our services with Würth’s online inventory management systems.

Supplying a commodity is the easy part. Supplying a solution that drives real results for your business – that’s something only the right people can do.

Taking A Local Approach

Last year when a top lawn maintenance manufacturing facility in the Midwest was looking to decrease the number of times production lines went down during the day, we added onsite Würth team members to their facility to streamline inventory management issues. We implemented clean-up measures that included daily rack inspections and new cleaning supplies, eliminated plastic waste and cardboard with reusable bins, and increased their daily production.

It’s more than simply just showing up to shake hands to maintain client relations – at Würth, we’re there with feet on the ground, providing local support, and responding to our customers’ unique needs. And when that need does extend to our international resources and global purchasing power, we still make sure we’re taking care of our partnerships up the road.

“We actually sit down with our supply chain partners and have conversations. We look at their innovation, we look at their continuous improvement programs, we look at risk, at price and quality, and their ability to deliver,” said Heather Stewart, Vice President of Supply Chain.

We may have the resources to work with top distributors worldwide to get the parts our customers need, but even then we make sure we can build a relationship with our supply chain partners, ensuring they’re the best fit. We take proactive measures to make sure they’re getting reliable, cost-effective components that won’t compromise their manufacturing.

More Than A Commodity

“People are our greatest asset, because we really can’t operate without them. Yes, we can have the technology platforms, but the technology platforms are not created out of thin air. They’re actually created by people,” said Stewart.

Family-owned and operated since 1945, a lot has changed within our industry over the years, but one factor that has remained true is that Würth’s culture has always been built around our people, and people will always be our difference.

It’s more than training employees to be better at their specific role – it’s about creating a reliable, transparent environment that our team trusts to work for and our customers trust to work with. And as our Executive Vice President of The Würth Group states, “It’s the difference between a contract and a partnership.”