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Schwabe North America banks on stock optimization

Stock optimization analysis helps pharmaceutical company customize its spare parts handling process after relocating from Utah to Wisconsin.

When pharmaceutical company Schwabe North America (NA) moved its manufacturing facility from Springville, UT to Green Bay, WI, the company had to entirely reorganize the spare parts stocking and ordering processes for its manufacturing machinery. Together with Bosch Packaging Services, Schwabe ran a stock optimization analysis, which has led to major improvements since beginning in August 2011. Schwabe is now able to anticipate future spare parts requirements, and has decreased lead by up to 90%.

Schwabe North America manufactures and distributes botanical brands, nutritional supplements, and vitamins under the labels Nature’s Way, Boericke & Tafel and Enzymatic Therapy all over the world. The privately held company headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, draws on more than 140 years of experience in pharmaceutical development.

Schwabe supplies its products either directly to online buyers or to health and whole food stores as well as large supermarkets in more than 50 countries. Over the last 10 years, the pharmaceutical company doubled its sales and production volume in the U.S., leading to a considerable increase of production capacity and machinery.

New spare parts strategy

In 2010, Schwabe NA moved its manufacturing from the Nature’s Way facility in Springville to the newly acquired Enzymatic Therapy site in Green Bay. Apart from the logistic challenges such a move entails, it also meant rethinking the spare parts procurement.

Schwabe had 10 Bosch GKF capsule-filling machines at its Utah site and benefited from the close proximity to the Bosch spare parts warehouse in Lindon. Many parts were available the same day. However, infrequently used and specially manufactured parts had to be ordered directly from Germany, which sometimes took up to four weeks because of the delivery time.

“We faced the question of how to get our spare parts without losing valuable production time. The closest Bosch facility in Minneapolis was now more than 300 miles away,” says Dave Hoffman, Maintenance, Repairs and Operations Buyer at Schwabe NA.

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