Close relationships between buyers and suppliers have long been regarded as an ingredient to success for companies looking to increase resiliency, generate new value, and effectively decrease cost. In a McKinsey survey of over 100 large companies across sectors, companies that regularly collaborated with suppliers had higher growth, lower operating costs, and greater profitability than other competitors in their sector.

This is exactly the approach that a major truck manufacturer adopted when they sought to increase engagement with their supply partner, CBC Australia – part of Motion Asia Pacific’s group of companies.

For nearly a decade, CBC has been supporting the company with bulk supply of LOCTITE® adhesive products to their central distribution facility – from where these products were distributed by the truck manufacturer across its
dealership network.

Around three years ago, the company decided to close their distribution centre to minimise the costs of inventory management. This meant the supply relationship with CBC had to adapt accordingly. Peter Solloway, CBC Queensland State Sales Manager for Motion Asia Pacific, says the shift in sales model required close collaboration between CBC, Henkel Australia and the truck company to adjust to the new distribution model.

“To help minimise their inventory management costs and to simplify their national supply process, the company has now established a centralised electronic ordering platform for internal sales of spare parts and industrial consumable products to its dealership network. CBC’s responsibility as the exclusive distributor of LOCTITE products to the company is to receive the orders from the backend of the online platform and to respond promptly through our existing supply channels,” says Peter. 

Peter says adopting the new model was not difficult for CBC as the company already had an extensive national distribution network, enabling it to store sufficient inventory of LOCTITE products at multiple storage facilities across the country to minimise delivery time. 

The shift in the sales model has also seen the truck manufacturer gain significant value in terms of cost savings for the company and a simplified ordering process for the end users. 

LOCTITE products are widely used in the assembly and production of heavy vehicles. Henkel Australia Technical Sales Engineer, Jody Martens, says products such as LOCTITE 518 Mater Gasket and LOCTITE 232 retaining compound are recommended by leading heavy vehicle manufacturers in their workshop and maintenance manuals.

“LOCTITE has also recently launched its popular 518 liquid gasket with a rolling pen applicator. The new LOCTITE 518 pen combines the leak-fighting properties of 518 Flange Sealant with a roll-on applicator that makes applying a liquid flange sealant easier than ever with less waste and less mess,” says Jody.

CBC and Henkel Australia have also collaborated on a number of occasions to offer day-long adhesive training programmes to the truck manufacturer’s staff. These trainings, as Jody remarks, are intended to introduce the full range and capabilities of the LOCTITE products.

“The feedback we have received from people who have undergone the training has always been excellent, with a much greater knowledge of product use, safety, waste reduction and ultimately increased equipment reliability being the outcome.”

Jody says CBC and Henkel Australia offer joint adhesive training sessions to those interested to learn more about LOCTITE products.

“This is something that we do for anyone who uses LOCTITE, because we want to make sure that they are getting the most out of our products. We can run these training workshops either as part of your apprenticeship programmes or as part of upskilling for your current mechanics or even design engineers. Simply get in touch with your nearest CBC branch
and let us help you with everything adhesive-related.”  

References: 1. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/operations/our-insights/taking-supplier-collaboration-to-the-next-level