Latest News

CTS’ Solutions Support Pronto Member’s Efforts to Eliminate Excess Inventory

Houston, Texas, May 2, 2005 – XL Parts, a leading distributor of automotive parts, recently announced the results of implementing an advanced inventory management, forecasting, and redistribution solution from Custom Technology Solutions (CTS). Launched two years ago, the online solution enables XL Parts to control and manage inventory across all distribution locations, and as a result, inventory investment by location has decreased by almost 16 percent while revenue and market share have both increased by 40 percent from 2003 levels.

XL Parts makes an extensive inventory of products from its 21 distribution locations available to its installer customers. It faced the challenge of needing to improve internal controls and the performance of its inventory investment. The distributor implemented CTS’ application, which has helped XL Parts make more intelligent decisions on procurement, allocation and inventory balancing.

“Results from our two-year use of the CTS solution have been nothing less than revolutionary,” said Ali Attayi, CEO of XL Parts. “While we have reduced our average inventory investment per location, we have realized better service levels. That benefits us and our customers.”

The virtual redistribution system in combination with advanced forecasting capabilities enabled XL Parts to affect $3.2 million in inventory optimization within its supply chain. It was able to identify true excess inventory, while the advanced forecasting and order point management system assisted in the procurement and deployment of the right inventory at the right location.

Benefits also extended to the company’s suppliers because the amount of unsold and other excess inventory returned to manufacturers has been reduced.

“The system generated tremendous value for us in the area of inventory balancing and right-sizing of inventory,” said Terry Bryden, general manager of XL Parts. “The CTS system is agile when it comes to the management of slower moving inventory.”

XL Parts is the fastest growing “Direct-to-the-Installer” parts supplier in the Houston area. It currently consists of 21 distribution locations and supplies 150 nationally branded automotive product lines. XL Parts is a member of the National Pronto Association.

Custom Technology Solutions is a Texas-based LLC providing innovative information technology and data warehousing solutions to the automotive aftermarket without requiring customer investment in information technology infrastructure.

Visit XL Parts at www.xlparts.com or CTS on the Web at www.ctssys.com for additional information.