SWEDESBORO, NEW JERSEY -- International distributor Thomas Scientific, which recently obtained ISO 9001:2015 Certification, has further broadened its ability to serve the scientific community through the public launch of a proprietary Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) program. The program, known as Thomas Inventory Management Solutions (TIMS), marks a significant addition to the value-added service portion of Thomas Scientific's business. It will be led by TIMS Director Ivette Nunez, with support from VP of Purchasing, Pricing, and Transportation Randall Gilliland.
"Being the largest pure-play scientific products distributor in the US is only part of the equation for us here at Thomas," Gilliland explained. "TIMS gives us the ability to target a wider range of issues for our customers by taking on-site inventory management out of their hands, allowing them to devote more time to science."
TIMS is structured to address multiple pain points commonly associated with inventory management while generating minimal disruption to a facility's day-to-day operations. Starting with inventory fulfillment and product delivery, this is achieved through a tiered approach that offers customers five different levels of service designed to meet a variety of needs – ranging from simple receiving dock service all the way to specialized on-site integrated services.
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| TIMS associate loading inventory for deployment to customer location. |
All service tiers are supported by Clear Spider, a best-in-class, cloud-based inventory management software solution that provides customers with real-time supply chain visibility and more power to reduce inventory risk. Each TIMS account is also assigned a dedicated Production Customer Service Specialist (PCSS), who will help ensure quality management of customer-specific requirements, order accuracy, and much more. Ancillary services including de-trashing, kitting, and gown room management are also provided at the customer's discretion to save time and reduce total costs.
Thomas Scientific's 2018 acquisition of American Cleanstat, a cleanroom and controlled environments distributor, allowed for the further expansion of a high-level VMI solution that had already been bringing inventory solutions to customers for decades – eventually evolving into Thomas Inventory Management Solutions. More recent TIMS customer successes coming on the heels of this acquisition include a leading Western US surgical systems manufacturer and a top supplier of critical subsystems to the semiconductor industry.
The Production Supervisor at one of these companies lauded the benefits TIMS has provided: "TIMS has made it incredibly easy to manage our cleanroom material. We worked collaboratively to identify the min-max quantities of our material, and after that he (TIMS personnel) has completely been self-sufficient. He fills our racks, makes recommendations that could save us money, and ensures that the process is running smoothly. The only thing I do every week is receive a copy of the material ordered – totally effortless!"
Please click here for more information on the benefits and inner workings of Thomas Inventory Management Solutions.