This is surely not acceptable and yet these companies clearly allow this to happen What if I told you that it is probable that one in two people reading this post work at companies that don’t apply even the most basic principles for managing their spare parts inventory? Would that be surprising? Well, that’s the […]
How to Make Spare Parts Forecasting Work
Spare parts forecasting accuracy is driven by the validity of the premise and the data that is used in the analysis, not the sophistication of the modeling Making predictions is hard, especially if they are about the future! This is a variant of a quote that is attributed to the physicist Niels Bohr, […]
3 Mistakes That You Are Probably Making With Critical Spare Parts Management
Nobody wants to be responsible for not having a critical spare part when it is needed. There are many issues that have the potential to keep spare parts managers awake at night but without doubt, critical spare parts management must be number 1. It is a topic that is raised with me regularly in both […]
The Big Lie of Spare Parts Obsolescence
One of the peculiarities of spare parts inventory management is that, generally, the supply chain is established to operate only one way. What if you had a storeroom full of parts that you didn’t need but also had no way of managing them? No process for identification and removal. This is a situation faced every […]
Use Our Network to Solve Your Problems
You Can’t Solve Today’s (Spare Parts Inventory) Problems with the Same Level of Thinking That Created Them The above quote is a derivation of one of my favourite quotes and one that is typically attributed to Albert Einstein. Over the years, I have seen this quote stated in several different ways and I have even […]
Spare Parts Inventory Optimization: A Zero-Sum Game?
The zero-sum view of spare parts inventory optimization comes about by looking only at the effects or outcomes of poor spare parts inventory practices, not the causes. Why is it that when discussions turn to spare parts inventory optimization, maintenance and procurement are cast as natural enemies? There is often an […]
Lubrication Management and the Storeroom
Many years ago, I was tasked with reviewing a manufacturing facility to help diagnose why they were producing so many ‘seconds’. Of course, their aim was to produce ‘first quality’ products but there was also a market for their ‘not quite right’ seconds. They could sell the ‘seconds’ but at a lower price and hence […]
The Catch-22 of Spare Parts Inventory Optimization
This kind of circular logic will be very expensive for this company… What stops companies from achieving all that they could with spare parts inventory optimization? Put another way, why do companies continue to waste money buying spare parts they don’t need when the course to prevent this is so well known? Perhaps the […]
7 Things That Every Senior Manager and CFO Should Know About Spare Parts Management – Part 7
The information and know-how required to effectively manage a company’s spare parts inventory does not reside in just one function Over the course of this series I have provided articles relating to spare parts operations and inventory management issues that I think ought to be of interest to senior managers and CFOs. The issues […]
How Do You Know That Your Spare Parts Warehouse/Storeroom Personnel and Managers Are Qualified?
When people don’t have the right training, they make well-meaning but ultimately incorrect decisions. When you hear that someone has a job that carries significant responsibility for the expenditure of company funds, or that has the potential to significantly impact operational outcomes, it is reasonable to assume that they know and understand the intricacies of […]
