From tractor mounted mowing and excavators, to agricultural attachments and aftermarket parts, Alamo Group prides itself in leading their industry and satisfying their customers’ needs through innovative products, expanded product availability, and customer service. Their brands include Alamo Industrial, Tiger, Schwarze, Nite-Hawk, Gradall, VacAll, Henke, Rhino, Schulte, Herschel, Valu-Bilt and M & W. The company has more than 2,400 employees and operates 17 facilities in North America and Europe.
Problem: Operating in Overdrive
Alamo Group’s distribution operation was working overtime to keep pace with the business’ success. An inefficient, paper-based system in the distribution centers greatly increased the potential for human errors and sometimes hampered customer responsiveness. Alamo Group needed a modern mobile solution.
Solution: Automated Data Collection
The solution for Alamo Group was RF-SMART’s automated data collection. “We searched for a cost effective, scalable multiple business challenges,” noted Keith W. Vinyard, Alamo Group’s Vice President, Information Technology. “One of our greatest operational needs was to implement real-time data collection to provide up-to-the second information about the status of inventory, sales order picking and shipping status, and work orders.”
Alamo Group selected RF-SMART based on the product’s demonstrated strength, easy adaptability to its growth trends and reasonable total cost of ownership. “RF-SMART proved to be the solution to our many needs,” Vinyard said. “Part of Alamo’s growth has come through well-managed acquisitions. RF-SMART’s flexibility helps us to prepare for and easily address those transitions.”
To run the RF-SMART solution and easily handle the heavy duty industrial equipment and parts, Alamo Group also required flexible and rugged mobile handheld devices. “Our environment is not kind to sensitive equipment,” said Rick Solano, ERP Application Specialist. “The handheld devices our employees use have to endure a rough, rugged workplace and still be easy to learn, easy to use and 100% reliable. The equipment is that and more for us.”
The RF-SMART Difference
The Alamo Group staff has embraced the new technology and equipment, recognizing that the system makes everyone more efficient. “The RF-SMART and hardware device combination is very easy to use and has been well-accepted by our employees,” said Solano. “The overall functionality and performance has been extremely stable and reliable.”
“Now, we have substantially improved inventory accuracy, and the streamlined processes enable our employees to work as productively as possible,” he said. “It’s about customer service,” Vinyard concluded. “Real-time data collection results in substantially increased inventory accuracy which contributes to fulfilling more orders more quickly, reducing errors and providing visibility throughout the business process. That’s the operational side of successfully fulfilling customer expectations and leading in our markets.”