No review or study of spare parts inventory can be undertaken (or even commence) without having at least a basic understanding of the financial principles for spare parts management. At first, this statement may appear to be redundant; after all, don’t people understand that spare parts cost money? Of course they do. The problem is […]
Should You Mix Project and Warehouse Inventory?
As spare parts inventory management comes under increasing scrutiny at many companies they are often frustrated and maybe even surprised that their inventory levels continue to rise. Sometimes it appears that the reason for this is the unexpected inflow of items that are left over from maintenance shutdowns or projects. This raises the question: Should […]
5 (Little Thought of) Ways that Improved Spare Parts Management Benefits Maintenance
There is one great tension that comes from the different perspectives that people have on spare parts management benefits: people either focus on the potential working capital savings from reducing inventory or they focus on the perceived availability benefits of holding more inventory. However, by focussing on these important but simplistic spare parts management benefits […]
Why Deciding Whether or Not to Stock a Spare Part is Not Trivial
How do you decide whether or not to stock a spare part? Is the time and effort spent on this decision not only unnecessary but perhaps actually wasted? One of the most important, perhaps even THE most important, decision that will be made regarding any individual spare part is whether or not to stock […]
8 Ways that the Management of Spare Parts Inventory is Unlike Other Inventory
Subject Area: Management of Spare Parts Inventory Do you manage spare parts inventory? Are you aware that spare parts inventory has specific characteristics that differentiate it from other inventory types? This article explains 8 ways in which the management of spare parts inventory is different to managing other types of inventory. […]
This is Why Some Spare Parts Inventory Managers Make a Difference and Some Don’t
Over the years I have discovered something interesting. There are many spare parts inventory managers that do something a little different at this time of the year. No, I don’t mean that they plan how they can move budget allocation from one fiscal year to another (although some do that!). What they […]
Two Types of Inventory Accuracy
Inventory accuracy is an important measure when assessing the effectiveness of spare parts management. But did you realize that there are two different types of inventory accuracy? Understanding this and which type of accuracy you are measuring is vital if you are to truly understand your performance and how to improve. Often, I am […]
Managing Repairable Spares
Do you need to manage notable and repairable spares? Is balancing the reality of high downtime costs with the repair and replace costs resulting in sub-optimal outcomes? This article discusses the different types of rotable and repairable spares and identifies the three documents needed to make better repair/replace decisions. The management of rotable and […]
Max-Min OR ROP-ROQ: Does it Really Matter?
This article covers: The definitions of Min, Max, ROP, and ROQ Why the differences are meaningful and important The pros and cons of using each Why you need to get this right Links to further reading There are essentially two ways that companies express their inventory control settings: either as MAX- MIN (sometimes MIN-MAX) […]
Getting Your (Inventory) Cash Off the Shelf!
The problem is that people see spare parts inventory only as engineering components and so think that their inventory decisions are engineering decisions Imagine walking into a storeroom or warehouse and finding the shelves stacked high with cash. Ten thousand dollars on one shelf, two thousand on another. A storage bin filled with 10 dollar […]