Atlanta—Ability, a provider of software that helps firms optimize inventory and fulfill orders, conducted a Webcast with Dunlop Tires to demonstrate how Dunlop improved its inventory control and production planning.

Leigh Harris, logistics manager for Dunlop in Durban, South Africa, told an Internet audience on April 18 that his firm reduced its inventory of finished goods by 37 percent and achieved a ROI within six weeks of using Ability's software. Ability says its products provide two main benefits for distributors: help them make sure they have the right stock in the correct place at the right time; and help them manage order fulfillment and do inventory control.

Dunlop formerly had problems matching inventories in various branches to customer demand, and was slow changing its production rates. Harris says the software helped boost stock turnover to about 18 percent. It also provides automatic monthly forecasts, manages price increases and helped Dunlop identify bottlenecks in production.