Thursday 20 December 2012

Sharing the Christmas Spirit with IMA

Christmas is an exciting and joyful time when families and friends come together for gifts and delicious dinners, but the reality is that many families are unable to experience these same luxuries and sometimes do not know where their next meal will come from. While it is easy to become distracted and take things for granted during the excitement of the holiday season, the staff at I.M.A. graciously made their contributions to help make this Christmas a little brighter for those in need.

During the entire month of November IMA collected non-perishable goods and by month’s end, delivered over 94Lbs of food donations to the local food bank.

As an annual Christmas tradition that began in 2011, this year IMA once again adopted a local family in need through the Salvation Army. It was truly amazing to see the appreciation that was conveyed for IMA’s contributions of food, clothing, basic necessities and toys for the children, however, without the dedicated volunteers within community organizations like the Salvation Army and Helping Hands Food Bank, none of this would be possible.

Although IMA has made but a small contribution to the thousands of families in need this Christmas, we are proud to support the local community and the spirit of giving. As we enjoy dinner and gifts with our own families this holiday season, we can feel good that for at least one day a local family in need will have a quality meal and the children will experience the excitement that every child deserves when they wake on Christmas morning.  

On behalf of the entire staff at IMA, we wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

For more information on Data Cleansing and related services, visit www.imaltd.com or contact info@imaltd.com.

Thursday 13 December 2012

Data: The Foundation for Business Decisions

While some companies and individuals may argue that the best decisions they’ve ever made have been by going with their instinct or a “gut feeling”, the reality is that the best business decisions are made based on hard facts, analytics and data insight.

Take Google for example, a multi-billion dollar business and one of the most successful companies in history. Google did not reach that level of success by making rash decisions based on instinct; instead it combined the most intelligent resources with data-driven insight. At Google, the entire organization revolves around data, analytics and experimentation, enabling them to continuously identify trends, learn market needs and develop cutting edge ideas.

Similarly, when we look at inventory management, supply chain and procurement functions in the manufacturing industry, the best results are data-driven. When the data that drives these business decisions is corrupt and inconsistent or used improperly, excess inventory and carrying costs build up, production frequently comes to a halt and accurate forecasting is nearly impossible.

In today’s highly competitive market data is like gold; the more pure it is, the more valuable it is. When manufacturing organizations have clean, standardized, quality data to base business decisions on, not only are they able to achieve immediate cost savings but also reap long-term benefits throughout all units of the business. Using analytics and data insight, maintenance and procurement teams will be able to eliminate excess inventory and keep production down-time to a minimum, while setting accurate min/max levels and lead times.

At the end of the day, data remains the foundation for business decisions and success based on gut instinct is really nothing more than a bit of luck. For more information on how I.M.A. Ltd. is empowering data-driven savings for manufacturing and asset-intensive organizations world-wide, visit www.imaltd.com.

Thursday 29 November 2012

Industry Standards Suggest...

With over 20,000,000 SKUs cleansed, it’s safe to say that I.M.A. has seen its fair share of poor data. While each project is unique in its own ways, our twenty-three years of experience has shown us that some statistics remain similar across all projects. Today we will take a look at each of these industry standards and learn how to calculate your own potential cost savings opportunities.

The first and possibly the most obvious industry standard suggests that most companies carry 10-15% excess inventory. These excess inventories include all over-stocked items which have compiled over time. This high percentage of excess inventory can cost companies millions of dollars and will continue to grow without a proper process of identification and elimination.

The second industry standard suggests that duplicate items represent 10-15% of all MRO inventory. These duplicates may be identified as either direct duplicates, meaning they have the same manufacturer and part number, or by “fit-form-function,” meaning they are not made by the same manufacturer but have identical characteristics.

The third industry standard suggests that commodity purchases are often spread across a multitude of suppliers at a unit cost premium of 5-8%. When I.M.A. conducts an analysis of transactional history, supplier spend is often one of the areas of highest inefficiency. Once supplier spend has been identified I.M.A. can assist clients to consolidate the supplier base by establishing preferred supplier programs, allowing clients to capture the most competitive pricing available.

The fourth industry standard suggests that Spot-Buy purchases can represent up 30% of the annual maintenance spend. This is an enormous figure that costs companies an incredible amount of money and can easily be avoided with proper inventory management. During an inventory optimization project, I.M.A. will analyze transactional history to identify Spot-Buys and recommend proper min/max levels for improved forecasting abilities.

The final industry standard suggests that on average only 5% of multi-site manufacturing organizations are able to view inventory levels across all locations. Due to acquisitions and system implementations, most multi-site organizations do not and will never operate on the same platform, making visibility across the corporation almost impossible. In an effort to resolve this problem, I.M.A. recently introduced a unique new Enterprise Visibility solution which allows clients to view min/max levels at all locations across the corporation, no matter what platform they are operating on. This valuable tool further adds to cost savings by enabling efficient asset utilization within the corporation, specifically for critical spares, high priced items and items with long lead times.

Throughout the past twenty-three years I.M.A. has proven that every company can benefit from quality materials master data. Using these industry standards I.M.A. is proud to offer a FREE ROI calculator available at www.imaltd.com . Try it today and discover the hidden savings!

For more information on Data Cleansing and related services, contact info@imaltd.com.



Thursday 22 November 2012

Reducing MRO Inventory Costs in Times of Economic Uncertainty

Reducing MRO Inventory Costs in Times of Economic Uncertainty

As the Fiscal Cliff looms and a second recession in less than five years seems more and more imminent, it is no secret that we are yet again faced with economic uncertainty. Driving efficiency and profitability has become increasingly challenging for manufacturing organizations and the pressure to reduce costs has never been greater. Although there is no doubt that the U.S. government will explore all avenues to avoid such a negative economic outcome, Americans could face significant tax hikes in the near future, forcing the economy back into a second recession worse than the first.


While MRO inventory is typically an overlooked area during times of economic stability, it is often brought to the spotlight during times of uncertainty. In such times, manufacturing organizations will be forced to examine all areas of the business to identify potential cost savings. Procurement teams will then be faced with corporate mandates to reduce costs and improve efficiency in addition to their already challenging roles.

Often underestimated, the opportunities hidden within MRO inventory not only present immediate hard dollar cost savings but also long-term benefits to all units of the business, from maintenance and procurement to IT and finance. Utilizing proper inventory management solutions and processes, organizations will have the opportunity to identify and capture significant cost savings through the reduction of excess inventory, improved maintenance efficiency and accurate forecasting abilities.

In order to reap maximum cost savings, the first phase of the cost reduction program will require the implementation of a corporate data cleansing project to standardize and enhance legacy data, identify duplicate and excess inventory, convert OEM parts to equivalent lower priced MRO items and assign proper UNSPSC coding to each unique item for future spend analysis. Clean, standardized and enhanced data will not only present immediate benefits but will also become the foundation for all future efficiencies and cost savings opportunities.

Once the database has been cleansed, the second stage of the cost reduction program will require the implementation of a corporate inventory optimization project to evaluate all transactional history over the past 12-24 months, identifying areas of inefficiency along the supply chain. Through inventory optimization, manufacturing organizations will have the opportunity to leverage spend, establish preferred supplier programs, make accurate forecasts and capture the most competitive pricing available. Using database statistics, inventory strategies can be tailored to meet specific cost reduction objectives. All identified duplicate and excess-active inventories can then be used down through attrition, returned to the supplier for credit towards future purchases or sold to a third party for cash.

After investing in Data Cleansing and Inventory Optimization solutions, a proper catalogue management process should be implemented to ensure the ongoing maintenance of data quality and corporate structure. Catalogue Management solutions can be customized to suit the unique requirements of each client. Whether you prefer to manage it internally using your own resources or outsource it to a company like I.M.A. Ltd., there are options available to meet every company’s needs. Any future catalogue updates, including new item creations, modifications or suspensions, will be formatted according to the pre-defined database format and corporate structure, while preventing any future duplication or database degradation.  

Any company at any time can reap the benefits of quality material master data but during times of economic uncertainty, MRO Inventory cost reduction can become a key factor in the success and survival of an organization.

For more information on Data Cleansing, Inventory Optimization and Catalogue Management solutions, visit www.imaltd.com or contact info@imaltd.com.

Founded in 1989, I.M.A. Ltd. is a provider of world-class Materials Master Data Management solutions, specializing in MRO Inventory and Indirect Materials. Current solutions include Data Cleansing, Catalogue Management, Enterprise Visibility and Inventory Optimization. With over twenty years of industry knowledge, hands-on part experience and internally developed tools, I.M.A. Ltd. prides itself on empowering data-driven savings with a relentless focus on the dynamic needs of the client.

For more information on Data Cleansing and related services, visit www.imaltd.com or contact info@imaltd.com.

Thursday 15 November 2012

I.M.A. Launches New Company Website

After months of hard work from the Marketing and IT departments here at I.M.A., we are extremely excited to announce the official launch of our completely redesigned website. While the redesign is long overdue, it could not have come at a more fitting time with the recent change of company ownership and introduction of software products in addition to our traditional service offerings.

The objective behind the website redesign project was to educate visitors with quality informational content while bringing a fresh image to the company as we continue the evolution of I.M.A.

The new website features an updated I.M.A. logo and colour scheme and explores each of the solutions offered, from services to software. With so much growth and excitement taking place in the company, we have also introduced a News & Events page as well as a blog to keep our readers up to date on everything that is happening within I.M.A. and our industry.  

Although a lot has changed on the new website, some things have remained the same. Upgraded versions of both the ROI Calculator and Data Evaluation form have been incorporated to deliver more detailed and accurate results. These two tools have proven extremely valuable in identifying the true condition of client data and potential cost savings hidden within.


Learn more about the changes at I.M.A. and view our redesigned website at www.imaltd.com.

For questions and information, please contact info@imaltd.com.