Hi-Stat Lexington Division of Stoneridge Selects Datacraft Solutions

Durham, NC -- (ReleaseWire) -- 11/15/2006 --Craig Benson of Hi-Stat Lexington Division of Stoneridge, Inc. commented that, “The company has been on a lean journey for about the past two years. During that period of time inventory has been reduced significantly due to manual kanban system and the re-defining of acceptable inventory levels by management. In 2005, Hi-Stat Lexington received the Stoneridge, Inc. Presidents Award for improvements in inventory turns. As we eliminate the waste, communication issues have become prevalent causing stock-outs and expedite freight shipments. We believe that an e-kanban system is necessary for Hi-Stat Lexington to reach the next level in our journey.”

Benson chose Datacraft Solutions because, “It was unique in its effort to truly partner with Stoneridge, versus many others that were just looking to sell a system. We needed to have a partner that would join us on this journey and assist us in finding ways of eliminating waste in excess inventory, and providing our supply base with an effective tool to improve our communication.”

Tony Diana with Datacraft Solutions concurred: “I think there are several areas of significant value that will be realized from our partnership. 1st I think the realtime, visual and collaborative communication link will be indispensable for Hi-Stat as they continue on their lean journey and bring their consumption based replenishment process to the next level. They will need the ability to issue replenishment signals in realtime and provide their suppliers with the ability to respond and confirm that they have received those orders and will be able to deliver the mission critical inventory items in the required time. This will potentially eliminate stockouts, line stops and expediting costs. The elimination of these costs alone can oftentimes more than pay for the system, apart from the other monetized value they will realize from optimized inventory levels, increased inventory turns, ongoing process improvement and maximizing resource utilization.

2nd – We have learned from repeated industry experience that what works effectively on a small scale manually, is very difficult to sustain on a much larger scale plant or enterprise wide. We provide the technology and services that enable organizations to scale their Kanban functionality without limit by automating the routine and managing the exceptions.

3rd – Signum provides the critical data that is indispensable for continuous improvement in regards to optimizing inventory levels, maximizing resource utilization and focusing on strategic buying relationships with suppliers. Signum provides, in one centralized repository, all of the mission critical data required to evaluate actual inventory usage, enabling users to optimize inventory levels. Signum will also provide Hi – Stat with the visibility into Supplier Performance Ratings, so they can focus on specific areas and suppliers that need additional training.

Datacraft Solutions (www.datacraftsolutions.com) has experienced significant growth in the past twelve months by eliminating complicated, expensive, time-intensive software implementations as well as extensive training regiments and the need for internal support. The Datacraft Solutions' replenishment supply chain digital kanban lean system allows customers access and fully utilize powerful lean benefits immediately for a low, predictable monthly fee. Services are scalable so manufacturers can design a Demand Driven Supply Chain Network.