For the Mechanical and Electrical Maintenance Team at Te Whare Whakatika, finding and accessing the right parts for their work has been made straightforward with the Kardex system which was installed as part of the new building project, completed almost a year ago.

Previously in the old workshop, when sourcing parts, they had to deal with a large, busy, labour-intensive store and needed more security and visibility. That was until they switched to a vertical carousel that delivers the parts to the user with a card swipe.

Stores and Logistics Manager Jeremy Sutherland says “it has improved our accuracy level tenfold.”

“We did a lot of planning with the project and workshop teams and had a lot of discussions about how it would work and how the two departments would integrate and provide a good service.”

The Kardex consists of 56 trays, each with a capacity of about half a tonne, and currently stocks two and half thousand line items or twenty one thousand individual items.

The Kardex comes standard with the item management system “PPG” which monitors stock levels and alerts the team when they need to refill.

The system also generates a daily report, which the team downloads and charges to the M3 system. This ensures that the costs are allocated to the correct projects and the inventory is accurate.

The system also provides a record of activity.

“The system is straightforward and user-friendly,” says Jeremy. “Customers love it too because they can get what they need faster and more easily without a Stores and Logistics staff member if they have an authorised LPC ID card and the correct part number.”

“You can see the activity, and there is no wandering around the shelves and items going missing.”

“It has reduced our footprint, improved our efficiency, and increased our security,” he added.