Viega GmbH & Co. KG manages and optimizes customer inventories with REMIRA VMI software

Viega GmbH & Co. KG, a specialist in sanitary, heating, and air conditioning installations, relies on Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) to efficiently manage its customers' inventories. In terms of software, the family-owned company has relied for many years on the VMI solution from Dortmund-based software provider REMIRA, which has grown steadily with increasing requirements thanks to its high flexibility and continuous, individual adaptation. Supplier-managed inventory not only significantly increases the level of service—Viega's customers also benefit from an average of 15% fewer stockouts while reducing excess inventory by up to 10%.

The right products, in the right quantity, at the right time, in the right customer warehouse – and thus more sales: Viega GmbH & Co. KG has been offering this VMI service for over 20 years in a total of eight countries, supported by REMIRA's VMI software. The Attendorn-based company Viega, which began producing beer fittings in 1899, is now one of the world market leaders in installation technology and manufactures over 17,000 items at ten international locations. Viega uses the vendor-managed inventory model to optimize the ordering and replenishment processes for its customers. However, as the existing ERP system did not fully meet the requirements in this area, the company decided early on to implement REMIRA's specialized VMI solution. Each customer connection is unique and is defined individually with each customer, taking into account specific objectives, in order to tailor the software to customer needs.

Optimal fulfillment of requirements and maximum flexibility

“Our ongoing goal is to map the VMI process to the complete satisfaction of our customers and to jointly exploit the efficiency potential to the fullest. To do this, we need a tool that offers maximum flexibility, is intuitive to use, and requires minimal effort,”

explains Rudolf Kaiser, Director of B2B Process Management at Viega. “With its VMI software, REMIRA has provided us with a solution that enables us to do just that every day.” Both the number of connected companies and the associated requirements have grown significantly over the years. Viega now manages inventory for more than 250 of its customers in eight different countries and automatically supplies them with the goods they need. The installation specialist is supplied daily with the relevant inventory data from the wholesalers' logistics systems via an EDI interface and optimally adapts the replenishment supply to the demand situation. This means that customers no longer have to generate their orders themselves; instead, the process is handled entirely by Viega on the basis of individually defined rules.

“Every company has different requirements, which we naturally respond to. REMIRA's VMI software provides us with ideal support in this regard, as individual logic can also be implemented without any problems and the solution offers a high degree of flexibility in terms of customization,”

says Kaiser. Some customers also use REMIRA inventory management software (formerly LOGOMATE), enabling direct data exchange between the systems. This provides Viega with additional high-quality information to further optimize its demand forecasts.

VMI software creates significant service advantages and efficiency

Against this backdrop, one of the greatest added values for Viega is the increase in the level of service for customers and the improvement in customer satisfaction. In addition, the companies benefit from a high level of supply security while optimizing inventory levels. This has enabled the companies connected via VMI to increase their inventory turnover while reducing the value of their inventory. Another major advantage for Viega is that VMI makes it easy to introduce new products and identify discontinued products at an early stage and reduce them from inventory before the market is informed. In addition, the REMIRA software is connected to the Microsoft Power BI business intelligence solution, supporting Viega in analyzing data relating to inventory, coverage, inventory turnover, and other KPIs to better illustrate the actual benefits and added value for customers.

“After almost 20 years of using REMIRA VMI software, we are still very satisfied and can say with conviction that REMIRA offers us the optimal solution for our requirements,”

sums up Rudolf Kaiser. Lennart Neumann, consultant at REMIRA, adds: “We greatly value Viega as a customer and our long-standing successful collaboration. The Viega team has a wealth of expertise, which provides us with optimal support in tailoring our software precisely to the requirements of the company and its customers.”

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