Champion Laboratories Streamlines Customer’s Ordering System, Enhances Customer Service With Vendor Managed Inventory

ALBION, IL, September 24, 2008 ­– Champion Laboratories, Inc., the company behind the most trusted brand names in the automotive, fuel-dispensing and heavy-duty filtration industries, continues to prove its hard-earned reputation as a customer-centric company with its recent announcement that it has begun offering product ordering, inventory management and tracking services to its customers through a Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) platform.

VMI is a streamlined approach to inventory management and order fulfillment that uses increased collaboration between suppliers and their customers—be they distributor, retailer, or OEM—to enhance the traditional ordering process. Instead of sending purchase orders, customers electronically send daily sales and demand information that generates replenishment orders for the customer based on the sales and demand activity. This creates a streamlined supply-chain operation for both the supplier and the customer.

“We had talked internally about VMI being a value-added process that we should be entering into with our customers,” explained Tom Cantwell, Champion Laboratories’ Customer Service Manager, who oversaw the launch of the VMI program on July 31. “We realized that this is something the industry was driving toward. We have a great partnership with Datalliance and the investment in VMI is worthwhile since it benefits the long-lasting relationships we have with our customers.”

Thanks in part to the reports that can be generated by its new program, Champion Laboratories has received very positive feedback from customers currently using the VMI platform. Fewer “stock outs” and more inventory turns are two realized benefits that are achieved through the VMI system. This new process also allows Champion Laboratories to make any necessary modifications in its production planning…a true win-win for all.

After two months in use, Champion Laboratories’ VMI program is “already managing more than one million dollars in yearly sales, with many more customers showing interest,” according to Cantwell.

For more information on Champion Laboratories and its new VMI program, please contact Susan Tuggle at (800) 851-4316 or susan_tuggle@champlabs.com

Champion Laboratories, Inc., is a quality and technology leader and one of the world’s largest manufacturers of filters and filtration products and related services to the automotive, retail, on-highway and off-highway fleet, heavy-duty and petroleum dispensing industries. Champion Laboratories, Inc., has been a trusted name in filters since 1955, providing high-efficiency performance in the most demanding work environments. For more information on the company or its products, please visit www.champlabs.com.

posted by Susan Tuggle