Datalliance announced that another three plumbing product suppliers have formalized their plans to launch Vendor Managed Inventory programs and selected the cloud-based Datalliance VMI platform as their technology foundation.

The companies include: Elkhart Products Corporation; Gastite; and Matco-Norca.

All three companies either have or will soon launch their VMI programs with key wholesalers.

They join plumbing industry leaders such as Anvil International, Apollo Valve, Canplas, Gerber, Swagelok, Ward Manufacturing, Watts Water and others who are already offering VMI programs based on the Advanced Datalliance platform.

Confirming the growing interest in VMI by wholesalers, Michael Magee, manager of shared purchasing at Winsupply said: “Winsupply is rapidly expanding VMI relationships. We are targeting 25 exclusive supplier partners for this business growth initiative. Our experiences with the VMI process have improved overall service levels while maximizing our supply chain effectiveness. In addition, VMI enables our team to focus on growth by aligning strategically with our primary suppliers. To exceed our corporate growth goals, we need the expertise our suppliers bring to the table; especially on the always changing product assortments and constant new product introduction opportunities.”