CASE STUDY | UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
A UAE construction-equipment distributor needed to grow from 5,000 to 7,500 units a year. Its previous supplier could not hold a delivery date, rejects were piling up as dead stock, and nothing in the catalogue was built for Gulf summer heat. Twelve months later the company sold 7,600 units and tripled its annual procurement value with us.
5,000 to 7,600
units sold per year
90 to 65 days
production lead time
7 days to 1
after-sales response
$1.2M to $3M
annual procurement value
01The client
A medium-sized construction-equipment distributor in the UAE, supplying lithium-ion chain saws and angle grinders to contractors and maintenance crews.
Before we started, the company was moving around 5,000 units a year and planned to reach 7,500 within twelve months. Local demand was there; supply was the constraint.
02What was blocking growth
Lead times that moved
The previous supplier's dates shifted without notice, so stock planning was rebuilt every month and fast-moving models ran out.
Failure rates and dead stock
Returns tied up capital in parts that could not be sold, pushed material waste to roughly 15%, and consumed the after-sales team's time.
No adaptation to the market
Catalogue products were built for temperate conditions. In UAE summer heat, tools needed different thermal and duty-cycle behaviour - and nobody would customise.
03What we changed
Built for the climate
Chain saws and angle grinders specified for high-temperature duty in the UAE, with upgraded thermal path and components rated for sustained load.
Lead time cut from 90 to 65 days
The production workflow was re-sequenced and scheduled against real station capacity, then tracked weekly. Delivery dropped to 65 days.
After-sales response in 24 hours
A fast spare-parts system was set up with buffer stock of the parts that actually fail, cutting end-user response time from 7 days to 1.
Material use up to 98%
Structural design was revised to reduce scrap at casting and machining, lifting material utilisation to 98%.
04Results after twelve months
Annual sales reached 7,600 units - above the 7,500 target, with 99% on-time delivery across the year.
Quarterly inventory cost down $150,000 - as dead stock cleared and replenishment became predictable.
Operating efficiency up around 20% - with less time spent firefighting shortages and returns.
Annual procurement value grew from $1.2M to $3M - turning a supply fix into a category expansion.
Same products, same market, different supply chain. If your current supplier's dates move and your returns are eating margin, send us your model list and annual volume - we will quote a schedule you can plan stock against.
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