CAMBRIDGE PAVINGSTONES

ACHIEVING REAL-TIME INVENTORY VISIBILITY WHILE BOOSTING PRODUCTIVITY

Cambridge is an industry-leading producer and distributor of pavingstones and wallstones. Their mission is to encourage positive change in the environments it utilizes each and every day, and they achieve this one paver and one wallstone at a time. Their centralized manufacturing, distribution and customer service complex is one of the largest of its kinds in North America. Cambridge has a team of more than 250 experienced technical, manufacturing and customer service professionals dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of quality and service. They have a robust dealer network in over twenty states.

THE CHALLENGE

To maintain their status as an industry leader, Cambridge wanted to transform the way it managed inventory that lived outside of the four walls of the warehouse.

As the industry has upgraded production means and methods, updating the control of inventory hadn’t kept up.

Cambridge needed access to real-time, reliable data anywhere, at anytime, especially to keep track of a high volume of inventory and materials in yards. Cambridge’s sales model requires rapid fulfillment – in as little as 90 minutes in order to pick, pack and ship an entire trailer load. Because they had been using a paper-based, old-school approach to managing inventory, they were challenged in meeting this goal. The status of inventory wouldn’t be updated until a day or more after the physical activities occurred, meaning no access to real-time inventory visibility. This made collecting inventory data cumbersome and hindered sales.

A sizable portion of Cambridge’s dealers rely exclusively on Cambridge to supply them with outdoor living products, which means they also needed access to production, inventory and sales in real time to meet the customers’ needs.

THE SOLUTION

After a search of the market, Cambridge found multiple solutions to fit their needs on paper. They ultimately selected Cloud Inventory® because of the people; the passion of the Cloud Inventory team - the team’s attention to detail and commitment to Cambridge’s success - set them apart from other solution providers.

With Cloud Inventory solutions in play, Cambridge now uses a real-time, cloud-based platform that makes its inventory data collection processes completely mobile. Cambridge has access to information about all physical activities related to inventory, including picking, packing and shipping as well as the inbound receipt of goods.

Cambridge can capture real-time data wherever its inventory resides via tablets and easily record the physical activities of inventory movements, both for inbound and outbound goods.

Additionally, Cloud Inventory’s applications have rounded out Cambridge’s ERP software system, NetSuite, and they are now positioned to perfect a supply chain model for their existing markets. Cloud Inventory has full integration capabilities with NetSuite, allowing Cambridge to leverage investments they have already made and extend it to a much broader geographic area.

THE RESULTS

Cambridge has experienced an increase in inventory accuracy thanks to the real-time visibility possible with Cloud Inventory. The speed and accuracy of receipts of purchase orders and transfer orders have also increased, giving Cambridge an overall boost in productivity.

“The Cloud Inventory solution achieves our goal of real-time, mobile data capture of physical activities,” said Steve Oberfield, Senior Manager, Cambridge. “No longer is NetSuite being updated after the activity has happened; data is entered in real-time so that Cambridge can make production and sales decisions more timely and more accurately. By knowing what goods they have, where they are and in what condition, Cambridge can satisfy customers’ orders in less time which increases inventory turnover.”

In the future, Cloud Inventory’s low-code platform will give Cambridge the ability to develop and deploy applications themselves as business changes evolve. Cambridge will continue to see their customers’ experience improved by reduced stockouts and increased inventory visibility.

INDUSTRY

Construction

“The Cloud Inventory solution achieves our goal of real-time, mobile data capture of physical activities…”

— Steve Oberfield, Cambridge

“No longer is NetSuite being updated after the activity has happened; data is entered in real time so that Cambridge can make production and sales decisions more timely and more accurately. By knowing what goods they have, where they are and in what condition, Cambridge can satisfy customers’ orders in less time which increases inventory turnover.”

ERP: Oracle NetSuite

HIGHLIGHTS

• Cloud Inventory® solutions increase inventory accuracy with real-time visibility

• Boost in productivity with streamlined pick, pack and ship processes

• Seamless integration into existing NetSuite investment