The Collaborative Managed Inventory tool TecCMI was introduced to the French market in January 2009 by GOLDA, the partner of TecCom in France. Didier Longret, Director Business Development Aftermarket Europe from Tenneco, and Alexandre Mandy, Customer Service Manager Aftermarket Europe, explain in this interview why TecCMI is the ideal process and stock optimisation solution.

Didier Longret (Director Business Development Aftermarket Europe): Today, product ranges are huge and must be complemented by services that can ensure wider availability of items and improved sales. A CMI (Collaborative Managed Inventory) is part of this approach, and is intended to optimise stock flow management. CMI can give us the forecasts we need for secure planning and optimal stock management. With this tool, distributors can reduce the capital invested in stocks and cut transport costs. It’s a two-way relationship.

Didier Longret, Tenneco Aftermarket

How does it work?
Alexandre Mandy (Customer Service Manager Aftermarket Europe):
Every day, the distributor sends details of his sales and stock movements via TecCMI. Transmission of this information is automatic, clear, standardised and detailed. The system then calculates the right quantities to be ordered, the number of parcels, and the rollout dates.

Tenneco already has several years’ experience with CMI.
Didier Longret: Yes, we began in 2006. Several large European distributors told us that they were interested in this service. Experience is important and CMI is a service which gets better with time. The quality of collaboration improves, and data studied over a longer period becomes increasingly more precise. The service rate also improves with practice. In recent years the system has encountered a fair amount of success in Europe, although France is a little way behind in this area.

A French paradox?
Alexandre Mandy: Thanks to the size of their companies, the French are already very aware of the value of inventories, and their stocks are better managed, which means they are less aware of the benefits of CMI. In other countries, customers come to us to develop the system. The crisis of the last year has clearly illustrated that inventory means cash, and too much stock blocks your money.

Are there any concerns about CMI?
Didier Longret: The distributor’s fear is of no longer having control of his stock, but the supplier’s goal is not to take control of the distributor’s stock, but to create a joint solution. The tool is fully transparent, and based on parameters that are agreed by both sides. The customer can visit the TecCMI platform and access his data at any time. He can control everything, it’s a collaborative exchange.

Is the TecCMI tool well-suited to the needs of independent distribution?
Alexandre Mandy: TecCMI is the least expensive replenishment tool and the best on the market at the moment. There are two possibilities if you want to enter CMI: either buy a software program from the market or rely on a shared platform. The second solution is both less expensive and more efficient. There are no problems with installing it at the distributor’s site. It amounts to sending and receiving structured files. Compared to other projects, TecCMI is also the simplest method, and fits in logically with the panorama of tools implemented by Golda.

How can the concept evolve?
Didier Longret: Firstly by increasing the numbers, we need more suppliers to offer this service, and we also need a certain volume and a sufficient number of distributors. All Golda/TecCom tools are intended to simplify the process by setting up shared solutions. TecCMI is a tried and tested tool that works perfectly, so it is quick to install and offers immediate benefits to the distributor. Product management will improve and we must not let this development pass us by.

By Alain MARCEL.