Slimstock, a UK-based software logistics company, has recently received an award in the Planning And Forecasting Software category at the 2014 Logistics Business IT Awards for its quick response after a Mitsui ship carrying automotive parts sank in the Indian Ocean last year. 

The containerised parts were being imported by IM Parts, which distributes Subaru, Isuzu and Daihatsu parts within the UK. The incident, which was reported by Automotive Logistics, took place in June 2013, just after the companies began working together, with a large shipment of stock sinking to the bottom of the ocean.

“As the cargo ship sank with our stock on board, we were left with a huge number of inventory issues,” said Mike Willetts, finance director at IM Parts. “Given that many items within our inventory are subject to extensive lead times, it was of the upmost of important that we resolved the issue as quickly as possible. Thankfully, with the support of Slimstock, we were able to respond immediately and take the necessary actions to ensure we could satisfy the needs of our customers.” 

Slimstock helped IM Parts to establish a recovery plan, and resolved the potentially disastrous situation within hours. 

Richard Evans, director of Slimstock UK said: “While the incident left IM Parts with an extremely challenging situation to manage, I had no doubt that with our expert industry knowledge, we would be able to resolve the issue swiftly and get their operations back on track.”