Vision adapts to retain high stock levels to beat Brexit supply chain impact

Vision has built high stock levels with more than 100,000 items currently available, to counteract Brexit’s customs clearance delays on UK imports and exports, thanks to proactive measures taken by the specialist maker of mounts, connectivity and audio products.

“AV installation businesses look to us to make product available as soon as they need it, so they can both be competitive and respond effectively to their clients’ needs,” says Vision Managing Director, Stuart Lockhart. “So it is essential to ensure stock availability to support them.”

Following the end of the Brexit transition period, Vision saw transfers between Europe and UK take six weeks to clear customs, causing shortages. “Although customs clearance times have improved, they still take around two weeks and likely to continue to be slow. To counteract this, we are using sophisticated technology to anticipate demand,” Lockhart continues.

“We hold stock across warehouses in the UK and EU and move it in response to demand. Using a Microsoft Azure-based algorithm enables us to predict where stock will be needed and move it pre-emptively.

“If resellers require more stock than is showing on the system, it is likely we have plenty of stock to call on from other warehouses, so channel partners should check with us,” Lockhart adds.

Vision uses LIFR (Line Item Fulfilment Rate) to measure its service levels.

“Normally our LIFR is over 95%, meaning we’d have stock 95% of the time but even with the negative impact of Brexit, we were able to achieve 88% in February and expect that to improve going forward, thanks to our actions.”