Rolf Meier, Head of Procurement and Logistics, Griesser AG,Switzerland

"Zero effort plus 100 percent availability"

When I started at Griesser AG twenty years ago, we had a dozen different suppliers for our C-parts. That made order processing and purchasing very time-consuming. We spent too much time on these activities in relation to purchase volumes.  

Deliveries to point of use
In 1997 we started working with Bossard. They looked over our manufacturing sites for blind elements and advised us to switch to the 2bin system where two containers with identical C-parts are organized on the kanban shelf, with one bin placed directly in front of the other. When the first bin is empty, Bossard picks it up and refills it while the second bin is used. It’s a very simple system, but with 1 000 different items and five manufacturing work cells, it considerably improved our efficiency. We now have five C-part stations in our production facilities which are refilled by Bossard on a weekly basis. This has helped us achieve 100 percent availability of C-parts with zero effort. Well, zero effort is not entirely accurate. Once a month we have to pay the bill. 

Potential for optimization identified thanks to close relationship
I find Bossard’s proactive approach particularly impressive. For example, Mr. Kaiser, who was very familiar with our manufacturing activities, identified an entirely new field for potential optimization: an innovative riveting system from Bossard. He recognized the opportunity to improve the riveting on our Metalunic and Grinotex slat blinds. So we tested the Bossard Speed Rivet System. And the consistently high quality of the riveting and the reduced handling have had a very positive impact on throughput times at the assembly station. 

Today, the name “Bossard” quickly comes to mind. For instance, when we need C-parts or logistics solutions, we turn to Bossard first as our partner of choice.

Ref. BOS-CL-FM-00914