Industrial distributor MSC Industrial Supply Co. (NYSE: MSM), Melville, NY, has received a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Officecovering a technology system and business process to help its customers document various inventory and operational cost savings achieved through use of MSC's services.

The newly patented system and process involves a computer-based data warehouse that contains a cost-savings delivery mechanism. When a manufacturing customer utilizes one of MSC's ControlPoint® inventory management solutions, such as vending, customer-managed inventory or vendor-managed inventory, the system helps identify the actual savings achieved against specific cost-reduction metrics selected by the customer. In addition to savings associated with inventory management, MSC's system also calculates the impact of savings from the metalworking- and operations-related products and solutions delivered by MSC, including improvements in productivity, processes, procurement methods, pricing and freight. The system then produces a customized report quantifying the realized cost savings. 

"MSC's patented cost-savings documentation system supports our associates' ability to bring deep expertise and insights to customers to not only keep their manufacturing operations up and running, but to improve their productivity, profitability and performance," said Doug Jones, Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer for MSC. "Our system is unique in that it provides our customers the ability to select the specific savings metrics that are most important to them in managing their operations and the automated system quantifies the actual savings achieved."