Gas Supply Chain Management: Best Practices by nexAir

Many industries rely on a steady stream of high-quality gas for their operations. As a leading supplier of industrial gases in the Southeast, nexAir has a deep understanding of their requirements. Over the years, the nexAir team has taken great strides in optimizing its supply chain. We employ a host of efficient practices and cutting-edge technology to ensure that the right product reaches the right customer at the right time.

From advanced forecasting techniques to strategic inventory management, here’s an overview of how we help our clients achieve new levels of efficiency every single day.

How nexAir Optimizes the Supply Chain

There are three main stages in the nexAir Supply Chain—sourcing, production, and delivery. From order placement to delivery, our team works tirelessly to ensure that the product is available and reaches you without delay.

Here are some best practices we employ at each stage: 

Sourcing

nexAir believes that collaboration is key. That’s why we work closely with our clients to understand their needs and align our sourcing practices accordingly.

By studying our clients’ patterns and employing advanced forecasting techniques, we deal with potential disruptions long before they impact our customers’ operations. Furthermore, our services are extremely flexible and adaptable, allowing us to modify our sourcing strategies to deal with unforeseen challenges, including scaling our operations as demands fluctuate.

Production

nexAir’s over 70 branches and retail locations are served by four production facilities. At these state-of-the-art centers, we adopt cutting-edge technologies to maximize our output while maintaining the highest standards of quality and safety.

Our production best practices include conducting rigorous quality control processes, consistent investment in infrastructure and new technology, and focusing on sustainable practices that minimize waste.

By taking these crucial steps, we’re able to meet the needs of our clients while reducing lead times. We also ensure that our products meet our customer’s precise specifications so they don’t lead to losses in efficiency.

Delivery

Once the product is ready to be delivered, nexAir employs a Smart Ship program to deliver it to the customer at the lowest possible price. 

Our cylinder gases are distributed by 225 GPS-enabled delivery trucks. Meanwhile, our cryogenic gases are delivered in specialized tankers. This interconnected fleet, along with our several branch and retail locations, enables reliable next-day deliveries.

To further streamline our delivery processes, we also developed and use our nexTrack system. It uses a combination of real-time tracking and advanced cylinder management to give customers unparalleled visibility into the status of their orders.

Even better, we employ cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain to optimize our routes, secure our shipments, and reduce errors. 

Forge Forward With nexAir’s Resilient Supply Chain

nexAir believes in continuous improvement. We’ve already adopted several best practices to ensure our customers can Forge Forward with timely deliveries and high-quality products. 

But we will never stop innovating and evolving with the times. For over 80 years, we have been leveraging our KnowHow to be at the forefront of industry advancements.

Our commitment to continuous improvement is our legacy and promise to our customers.