Before deciding how many of an item should be stocked, the first question to ask is: should the item stocked at all?
One of the issues with managing spare parts inventory, used for operations and maintenance support is that deciding what to stock can often be an emotional rather than a rational decision.
This is because the decision is often left to the perception of an individual who uses little or no data and who decides on a ‘just in case’ basis.
This ‘emotional’ decision making is particularly prevalent when it comes to determining spare parts criticality.
One of the key causes of incorrect criticality assessment of spare parts is a failure to recognize that a spare part that is critical to the operation of a machine, or a part of a machine, is not necessarily a spare part that must be held in inventory.
The difference is that the criticality of a machine part is based only on the need of that part by the machine in question but the criticality of a spare part in inventory also relies on the supply of the part and whether it can be supplied within the planning horizon.
This means that determining a spare part’s criticality MUST include an assessment of the failure modes for that part. Then, you need to understand if the failure can be predicted (e.g wear out) and if the part can be sourced before it is actually needed.
If condition monitoring can help identify potential failure, and if the part can be sourced before that failure occurs, then there is no need to hold the spare part as inventory.
This is why a critical machine part is not the same as a critical spare part.
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Posted by Phillip Slater