Time for the Move from Manual to Digital
For over a century, Coast Products has been making lives easier and jobs safer, becoming a household name for many of its customers. Coast is known for its wide range of flashlights, safety gear, tools, and more. With the working professional in mind, Coast’s products are created to withstand the test of time, each one backed by a lifetime warranty.
Coast was running all its purchasing through homegrown database tools and spreadsheets. This process was only updated once per month manually, so data was difficult to align with customer needs, the team’s budget, and the business plan. Senior leadership knew lead times were suffering, as they needed to increase the frequency and accuracy with which sales and purchases were being reviewed.
There was missed opportunity in the inability to get product to customers when they wanted it, with little knowledge into which accounts were carrying what products. In addition, there was extra cost with constant unplanned buying and a general lack of visibility across the process. The team’s evaluation process led to cloud-based Plex DemandCaster Supply Chain Planning as the right solution.
Shelley Roberts, Coast Products Supply Chain Manager, was brought in to help uplevel Coast’s demand planning and get DemandCaster running with help from the Plex support team. With her supply chain planning background and years of expertise working with various systems, the Coast team was confident in their ability to successfully go live with Plex during the global pandemic.
