The xIO Inventory Optimizer™ is the only MRO optimization service that uses a proven scientific method to calculate correct Order Points and Order Quantities for both your frequently used and infrequently used maintenance inventory items.

The result? Independent, objective conclusions to guide your inventory decisions. And immediate bottom-line savings through higher fill rates, lower inventory investment, and no more dead stock purchasing.

Why xIO?
MRO maintenance inventories are seldom in phase with a company’s business cycle. Inventories are either under-bought causing a risk to production, or over-bought and must be periodically purged.

It’s simply impossible to manually review the ordering mechanics of thousands of inventory items on a continual basis. Until now...

The monthly xIO Inventory Optimization service automatically analyzes, adjusts, reports and audits all of the information required to support best practice inventory management and bring the inventory in line with your current business cycle – whether ebb or flow. Accurate lead times are calculated, appropriate order points and order quantities are determined and “action items” are reported.

All of this occurs regularly and automatically with no effort required by the purchasing professional. Time is freed up for more important tasks and supply chain initiatives. The results are:

• Significant improvement in material availability that leads to increased productivity (usually 10% to 20%)
• Substantial reduction in moving inventory value (usually 12%)
• Complete program audit of all transactions, recommendations, results and compliance

Most importantly, decision support happens at the line item level, across the entire inventory – for the FIRST TIME.

Best Practice Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry
The catch phrases of our maintenance world have become: best practice, lean manufacturing,  due diligence, ISO, six sigma, Sarbanes Oxley – all of which simply mean you must complete your tasks flawlessly – no matter what they are.

The xIO drives this perfection. For the first time, purchasing professionals can rely on empirical science rather than inherited intuition to manage the day-to-day tasks.

OPs, OQs and lead times are constantly reviewed and adjusted – with line item detail – presented simply and concisely using web-based software. The xIO will report, pre-notify and remedy all stock out situations. Your company’s CFO will see increased cash flow in the form of increased productivity and reduced inventory investment. And your plant manager will see the same benefits focusing on asset uptime. The xIO ensures the correct part is in the appropriate quantity when you need it.

Lead Time Accuracy
At one time you may have known the exact delivery lead time for specific items in your maintenance inventory. But what you really need to know is the current lead time - right now. Accurate order-to-receipt lead times form the foundation of best practice inventory management, but will vary for many reasons and are seldom reliable. This is no longer a concern with the xIO.

The xIO calculates the true lead time for all receipts of all items in your maintenance inventory – it reviews every transaction on a monthly basis. User-determined parameters allow you to fine-tune the calculation so that it works seamlessly with your specific ordering process – even allowing for “pre-stocking approval periods”.

The xIO provides an automatic, “root cause” analysis on those items where lead times were the cause of a stock out event. You will be able to determine (at the touch of a key) whether it was a one-time event or an emerging trend. In all events, the xIO automatically applies the proper algorithms to rectify the situation in the next ordering cycle.

Take lead time accuracy to a whole new level and use the most accurate data available – not just a rarely used manual input function that resides in your ERP system.

The xIO Pulse - Stock Out Analysis Report
The simplest definition of a stock out holds true: When someone requires a maintenance repair part and it isn’t available when he needs it - it is stocked out. Technically, a stock out occurs when the quantity on hand of any item in inventory is reduced to 0. This is driven by the issue (and sometimes transfer) process and can occur at any time. A stock out carries varying levels of risk to an organization and may even expose it to the risk of plant shutdown. It is generally accepted that stock outs must be prevented, but at what cost in excess inventory value stocked on the shelf?

The xIO Stock Out Analysis is the first purchasing and inventory management tool to specifically address the stock out problem and automatically determine its root cause. The xIO analyzes every SKU in inventory every month. Open purchase orders, receipts, issues, returns and transfers are reconciled for every day on which one or more of these events occurred. At the touch of a key, the purchasing professional can evaluate the cause of a stock out, and the risk it poses to the operations of the facility. The xIO immediately adjusts the order point and order quantity to rectify the problem and produces a list of action items that will allow the purchasing professional to pro-actively, and for the first time - prevent stock outs while managing the inventory in the most efficient manner.

What Kind of Results Does the xIO Typically Deliver?

• 20% increase in service levels
• Potential cash flow savings of 12% over three years
• 100% ROI in less than three months

The Intersection of xIO Theory and Practice Under Your Control:
The xIO is based on sound statistical theory. Empirical evidence gathered during our years of implementing the xIO in the real world has provided us with the knowledge to help our clients fine-tune the xIO implementation so that it will deliver the highest possible value in optimizing their plant’s indirect materials inventory. We bring a unique combination of theory and practical application experience to benefit our clients.

The xIO Enhances the Capability of Your Current ERP/EAM Business System
All currently existing ERP/EAM systems do NOT dynamically calculate and re-calculate order points and order quantities. Only the xIO™ provides this unique service – monthly so you are always in phase. Common ERP systems manage direct or feedstock inventories using accepted methods such as EOQ (Economic Order Quantity). When these parameters are applied to items with infrequent usage – such as a maintenance inventory – the inventory is mismanaged resulting in an overbought or under bought (even worse) situation.

The xIO is NOT integrated or bolted on to your existing ERP. It is simply a web architected service that returns analyzed information for direct upload to the ERP after review by the Purchasing Professional where required. Compatible ERP/EAM systems include SAP, Oracle, Maximo, JDEdwards, PeopleSoft, Indus, Elipse, DataStream, QAD and Avantis.

Who can benefit from the xIO?
At first review, it would appear that the xIO is a niche tool to optimize disparate inventories. It is quite the opposite.

Literally, every industry segment from aerospace to open-pit mining requires some form of maintenance. If maintenance is required, so are the spare parts to maintain the asset. If your MRO inventory value is $1 million or more, you will see immediate and meaningful benefits in the form of increased production and inventory reduction. Consider the substantial savings realized with inventories in the hundreds of millions of dollars, spread over multiple locations.

How the xIO works and what’s required of you
The xIO uses intricate, proven scientific algorithms to produce an effectively simple result:

1. Xtivity supplies a data format template
2. You input your data and return via secure ftp to Xtivity
3. Xtivity performs an analysis and returns the new order mechanics to you
4. Your results are placed on the secure, web-based xIO Pulse™
5. The new OP/OQs are directly uploaded at your site
6. This process recurs monthly as part of a job stream

The xIO requires minimal input from the purchasing professional. It will take less than one day to assemble the data, one day to transmit and verify the integrity of the data and one additional workshop day to fine-tune the results to your particular facility. The xIO is completely implemented within five business days and available 24/7 for your convenience. Xtivity analysts are available by special request, but our premise is to leave control and operation in the hands of the purchasing professional.

The xIO is a unique, web-architected service, not a consulting engagement and it is totally unobtrusive within the culture of an organization.

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