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“This created a major problem as we have to react to customers immediately and if we didn’t have the tools, we had to wait a couple of days for certain cutters – an unacceptable situation that put pressure on the business.”

To deal with the difficulty in controlling tooling stock, Ravenscourt acquired a vending machine for its tooling, the Toolvend 123. The subcontract specialist manufactures numerous components in wide batch ranges from one-offs to hundreds from a selection of materials that includes titanium, inconel, stainless, mild steel and brass. This diversity forces Ravenscourt to hold a vast array of tooling that is fully catered for by the Toolvend system.

“Prior to installing the machine we went through our tooling drawers and counted out our tooling. Much to our surprise we had a lot of cutters replicating themselves and our total stock value was £22,500. We bought almost no tooling for the next six months and saved ourselves a lot of money by using stock we didn’t realise we had,” states Mr Smart

The company now has a policy where the vending machine holds less than £3,000 worth of tooling on the shop floor now. As Mr Smart says, “The new system makes it easy for us to see what’s in the system and this gives us confidence in the vending machine and peace of mind.”