Streamlining of the Terminal Boxes range

 

Although sales were strong, it seems that back orders were increasing, and we couldn’t quite literally make them fast enough!

 

This was the wrong position to be in, and required drastic action before the new catalogue went to print.  Fortunately, I get to travel to the majority of Countries that Eldon currently operates in, so I was able to conduct some market research of my own, before I made any decisions.

 

Clearly, service is everything, as no one wants to wait for a works order for a terminal box to be completed.  Order and forget, was the unmistakable message from everyone I spoke to about what they expected when they ordered a terminal box.

 

It seems that our problem has being growing for some time, and I mean quite literally growing!  The terminal box range had clearly got out of hand, with more sizes and options being added every year.  Although the demand for these new sizes was apparent, it seems that in most cases it was only a desire, and not essential to the success of the project!

 

Although we always endeavor to offer exactly what the customer wants, logistically it causes more problems than you could imagine, by ultimately effecting sales of core items because of long delivery on a 10 Euro terminal box.

If you have seen the new main catalogue you will have noticed that the terminal range is now smaller than it used to be, for all the reasons I have just explained.  However, the catalogue explains what items are still available on request.

 

Rationalizing the range has meant that we could invest in more stock, so although we are now offering a smaller range, we now have more overall stock than we did before.  Apart from keeping local stock (which is based on previous sales history), we have also increased the stock we keep in our central warehouse in Holland.

Although rationalizing sounds like bad news, we think we achieved it without harming the range, because the right things have been rationalized.  For instance we had several different terminal boxes that basically did the same thing, with only very minor differences between them.  Also, some very low volume sizes were difficult to justify, although as I said before many remain available on request.

 

My aim was to improve our level of service on terminal boxes, because I think it is better to deliver a smaller range from stock, than offer thousands of similar sizes and combinations on a built to order basis, which I am confident you will see for yourself! 

 

If you require any further information or have any comments on our terminal box range, please mail me at david.ramos@eldon.com.

 

Product Manager Wall Mounting Enclosures