Niglon improves demand forecast accuracy with EazyStock

Niglon is a family business that has been supplying electrical products across the UK for over 80 years.

They have thousands of products, including circuit protection, wiring accessories and cable management.

The challenge

Niglon were used to relying on one inventory manager who knew their 4,500 SKUs inside out. But since the inventory manager was retiring, Niglon needed a way to replace their manual processes to improve forecast accuracy.

Inaccurate forecasts meant that Niglon was ordering the wrong stock items, which left them at risk of stockouts for some items and tied up capital in unnecessary items. They needed a way of:
• Bringing all their spreadsheets together in one place to provide accurate data.
• Automating their processes to speed up manual checking and calculations.
• Accurately forecasting demand across their 4,500 SKUs to reduce excess stock and improve stock availability.

The solution

Niglon reviewed several providers but felt that EazyStock’s functionality best suited their needs – particularly the risk of run out report.

The automation EazyStock provides means their stock manager can access information at the touch of a button, providing more time to focus on ordering the right stock.

Thanks to EazyStock’s alerts, the system flags any anomalies so that they can be checked and rectified quickly. The team also sets safety stock levels and reorder points so EazyStock can let them know when they need to place new orders to prevent stockouts.
“EazyStock not only tracks all demand and sales information but also accounts for seasonality and different demand types. This provides much better stock availability,” says Operations Director, Oliver Hinley.

Niglon has become more efficient by using the calendars and order fill up functions. EazyStock uses management by exception, which provides a daily list of replenishment recommendations.

This allows Niglon to choose whether to check every line or let the system automate regular, lower-cost orders.
When looking at systems, Niglon found the prospect of implementing a new system daunting. However, Mark, their Customer Success Manager, made the process easier.

“Our biggest misconception was that EazyStock would be difficult to use and might not be much better than a spreadsheet. We were wrong; it’s simple and user-friendly. Mark has been with us since day one, getting to know our business, providing on-site training and continuing to support us.

“Having that extra support makes a huge difference. Mark is always at the end of the phone or email to help us. Unlike other companies, EazyStock doesn’t have support tokens or limits, so we don’t have to worry about extra costs if we need any help.” explains Oliver.

The results

EazyStock’s risk of run out report gives Niglon the foresight to minimize stockouts and maintain high customer service levels.
“By the time you’ve run out of stock, you’re already giving poor service”, says Oliver.

By using the order schedules functionality, Niglon can give their suppliers an idea of what and when they will order and in what quantities. Providing this information to suppliers means they can let Niglon know if they can’t meet those orders so that Niglon can make contingency plans. As Niglon places many orders with companies in the Far East, the Chinese New Year shutdown could cause supply problems.

Now, the team sets dates, and exclusion period dates, and EazyStock does the hard work.
EazyStock calculates what needs to be ordered and when to avoid any issues.
Using EazyStock has enabled Niglon to pick up on issues they wouldn’t have been able to before, such as spikes in demand. This is what Oliver says is the core of EazyStock.
“EazyStock allows us and the purchasing team to react quickly.” It’s not difficult to get started with EazyStock, as Oliver explains:
“I was concerned integration was going to be an issue, but I was actually surprised because it was relatively seamless, and we were testing it within three months of our initial meeting, which was great.”