A Different Approach to Inventory Management

The eVMI concept has been well received by Catalent's internal users, according to Stoch. "Purchase orders and MRP have essentially been eliminated from the process, resulting in freeing up of planner/buyer time to focus on more strategic activities. The business case for adopting eVMI for Catalent and its customers is overwhelming," he says. "As a result of this Web-based Kanban system, we have been able to reduce lead times from days or even weeks to hours. Obsolescence in the supply chain is significantly reduced, we have not experienced a 'stock out' for any items that are on this system, and we achieve all of this without the need for a forecast or other traditional MRP predictive mechanisms that are subject to volatility and uncertainty."