Kitting in Action at High-Tech Manufacturer: 16.214 Fewer Order Lines

By implementing kitting, the manufacturer experienced:

• Drastic reduction in order lines – the amount of order lines decreased from 18.088 to 1.874 – a decrease of 89,6%.
• 100% OTIF score – items are delivered at the same time in a pre-assembled, quality-checked, and ready to use kit.
• Fewer suppliers to manage – reduced from dozens of suppliers to a single, reliable point of contact, streamlining procurement and communication.
• Faster installations – eliminating delays caused by missing parts, ensuring the precision machine up and running without interruptions.
• Improved compliance assurance – ensuring all necessary documentation, declarations, and quality standards are bundled within each kit, simplifying audits and regulatory checks.
• Optimized inventory management – minimizing unnecessary storage, cutting waste, and improving supply chain efficiency.
• Greater focus on innovation – freeing engineers from time-consuming administrative and logistical tasks so they can concentrate on high-value R&D and product development.

From Chaos to Control: A Familiar Challenge for MAG45

Imagine this: an experienced engineer is assembling a precision instrument crucial for scientific research. He has a list of 80 different components—ranging from tiny screws to specialized calibration tools—scattered across a central storage area.

To collect each item, he walks back and forth repeatedly and along the way, he gets distracted by a colleague, loses focus on the task, and wastes valuable time. After an hour, he’s finally gathered most of the parts—but two essential components are still missing. Work comes to a halt and the entire assembly timeline is delayed.

Events like these occurred way too often at a global high-tech manufacturer. Engineers and technicians spent too much time searching for parts, leading to inefficiencies, frustration, and additional costs. Meanwhile, the procurement team had to manage hundreds of suppliers for every single precision machine built.

The question was clear: can this process be smarter, faster, and more efficient?

The Solution: Kitting as an Integrated Supply Chain Approach

MAG45 provided the answer: kitting—delivering complete, ready-to-use sets with all necessary components. Over the course of our long-term collaboration with this client, we developed 412 distinct kits, each carefully designed to optimize efficiency. Together, these kits encompass more than 18.000 individual components, significantly reducing handling time for engineers. Additionally, by consolidating these components into kits, the client now has an order line decrease of 89,6% fewer purchase orders to manage, track, and reconcile—dramatically lowering administrative workload and streamlining procurement.

Below, we highlight two key kits we developed for this high-tech manufacturer.

1. The Service Toolkit: Everything in One Waterproof Case

One of the first challenges MAG45 tackled was optimizing the calibration process for the machine the client manufactures—a delicate yet essential step in ensuring precision in the use of the machine. To fine-tune the electron beams, engineers required a highly specialized tool composed of multiple subcomponents. Previously, the client had to source, store, and manually gather these parts for every installation. This fragmented approach had a high chance of leading to errors, inefficiencies, and logistical headaches, essentially increasing the chance of delays in getting the machine up and running.

Our resident engineer recognized this bottleneck, so MAG45 developed a fully integrated service toolkit—a single, comprehensive solution that streamlined the entire process:

• A waterproof, custom-designed case with precisely the right components arranged in a foam interior.
• Cleaned items meeting your standards.
• A plug-and-play solution, with even pre-assembled parts eliminating the need for engineers to search for individual parts or worry about missing components.
• Including all necessary documentation for global shipping, preventing delays due to export regulations.

The impact? Calibration became faster, installation time was significantly reduced, and the risk of human error was minimized. Engineers could now focus entirely on precision work instead of logistics, resulting in a smoother and more efficient assembly process.

2. Hassle-Free Maintenance: The Maintenance Kits

Maintenance was another area where kitting provided a game-changing solution. The client’s field engineers traveled across the globe to service the high-tech precision machines. Yet something as small as a missing screwdriver or an incorrectly sourced O-ring could halt progress entirely, leading to costly downtime and frustrated customers.

To eliminate these risks, MAG45 introduced standardized maintenance kits, ensuring that engineers always had the exact tools and replacement parts they needed. These kits offered:

• A pre-configured repair package containing all essential components, from O-rings and filters to precision tools—tailored for each type of machine.
• Individually packaged components, allowing engineers to take only what they needed without being forced to order and store excess stock.
• A single order number, consolidating multiple supplier interactions into one streamlined procurement process.

The result? No more last-minute supply shortages, reduced downtime, and increased efficiency in the field. Engineers could now focus on delivering high-quality service without worrying about whether they had the right tools at hand.

Integrated Supply in Action: One Point of Contact Across All Departments

What truly sets this collaboration apart is the presence of an on-site resident engineer, working on-site with the client. The MAG45 resident engineer is far more than a supplier representative—he’s become a trusted partner and an integral part of the client’s internal ecosystem.

By actively collaborating with engineering, R&D, procurement, logistics, and quality teams, he acts as a central hub, connecting different departments and aligning their needs into one streamlined solution. Whether it’s helping R&D design a new kit, coordinating with sourcing to find the right supplier, or aligning with logistics to ensure just-in-time delivery—the resident engineer bridges the gaps.

This level of integration ensures that MAG45 doesn’t just deliver parts or kits—they deliver coordinated, tailored solutions that evolve with the client’s business. It’s the embodiment of MAG45’s role as an integrated supply partner, not just a vendor.

The Outcome: Increased Efficiency, Reduced Complexity

What began as a single service toolkit has evolved into a fully integrated supply chain solution, encompassing 412 custom-designed kits tailored to the client’s needs. Today, kitting is no longer just a convenience—it’s a critical pillar of their operations, improving efficiency at every stage. The result? A leaner, faster, and more controlled supply chain. With 89.6% fewer order lines, reduced supplier complexity, and better compliance built into every delivery, this high-tech manufacturer now spends less time on logistics—and more time on innovation.