Vendor-managed inventory (VMI) is a business model where the supplier or distributor actively manages inventory levels, replenishment, and availability for the end customer. It relies on automated inventory workflows and live data rather than manual stock control.
In practice, a strong practical example of this model is the partnership between Invendor and Svetsmaskinservice AB in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Invendor provides the VMI platform, automation software, and system integrations. Svetsmaskinservice operates as the distributor, setting up the solution at customer sites, replenishing consumables, and running the system day to day. From the outset, the solution was designed not as a one-off deployment, but as a repeatable operating model that could be rolled out across multiple customer sites.
This setup enables:
- Fewer stock-outs through real-time inventory visibility and proactive replenishment
- Faster replenishment cycles by shortening the time from consumption to refill
- Less administrative work thanks to automated tracking, reporting, and workflows
- More VMI customers with the same team, allowing scalable growth without adding headcount
As Isak Wetterlind, from Svetsmaskinservice AB, explains: “Vendor-managed inventory scales only if the distributor takes ownership of daily operations and builds the solution into repeatable processes, rather than treating it as a one-off deployment.”
From digital stock tracking to automated inventory workflows
Svetsmaskinservice uses Invendor Gravity Cabinet to supply industrial consumables and the Storeroom App to digitalise customer storerooms with a simple smartphone workflow. As a result, automatic replenishment and clearly defined processes replace manual stock counting and reactive ordering with a reliable, automated inventory workflow.
In addition, this approach delivers more than improved visibility. It enables distributors to roll out a VMI setup consistently across customer sites. Administrative maturity plays a key role in this success. By investing early in understanding the solution and defining repeatable workflows, distributors can deploy new customers. In this case, ongoing involvement from Invendor is not required.
ERP-integrated vendor-managed inventory built for scale
Equally important, another defining component of the partnership is an integration-first approach. The VMI solution does not operate in isolation. The system synchronises master data directly from the distributor’s ERP and automatically creates replenishment orders within internal systems. As a result, restocking turns into a predictable inventory workflow, reducing manual work and improving data quality for end customers.
“By integrating master data and order creation directly into the vendor’s ERP, inventory replenishment becomes a background process. Instead of a manual task”Joonas Püvi, CEO of Invendor
Svetsmaskinservice AB also operates as a full-stack distributor, covering installation, replenishment, and ongoing maintenance. Combined with Invendor’s platform, this creates a seamless end-to-end VMI solution. It supports internal efficiency and customer-facing reliability. Partnership between Svetsmaskinservice AB and Invendor shows how VMI succeeds when technology, integration, and distributor ownership align across industrial environments.
For Invendor, this partnership also marked one of the company’s first steps into the Swedish market. From the beginning, we positioned VMI as a core operational capability. It was built to scale through standardised processes and system integrations, not as a standalone tool.
