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Articles: MRO - Spares Management

Beyond Vending…. More than Tracking Inventory and Purchasing Parts

Die castings are among the highest volume, mass-produced items manufactured by the metalworking industry.  J. L. French, headquartered in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, is a global supplier of quality aluminum die castings specializing in powertrain and automotive components having three manufacturing plants in the United States and one in Spain.  It’s not uncommon for large manufacturers such as J. L. French to spend millions of dollars every year on the MRO (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations) side of manufacturing.  In 2005, J. L. French realized that controlling these types of costs on MRO, spare parts, tooling, and other indirect material used in the secondary machining operations should be a priority according to Warren Hacker, Manager of North American MRO Purchasing.  Being naturally analytical, Hacker had numerous questions regarding asset management and inventory control.  Questions such as…Where is all this material going?  Why do we have so much of this and not enough of that?  Why are so many of our invoices not matching our purchase orders?  Bottom line…How much is it really costing us to manufacture these parts?

Care For Your Spares

Poor Spare Parts Maintenance Can Kill Your Plant’s Efficiency

by Wally Wilson, CMRP, CPIM

You could, unknowingly, be introducing premature failure to your equipment assets. And inadequate inventory management practices for spare parts in your Maintenance, Repair, and Operating supplies (MRO) storeroom could be the cause.  The storeroom is one of the foundation blocks that support the maintenance department’s efforts to keep production equipment running at the most efficient levels possible.

Inventory Management Strategies

By Randy Walker

1) Introduction to Inventory Management

For Facilities Maintenance Organizations, the quickest and most substantial "hard dollar" returns are achieved through the Inventory and Purchasing modules. Even in Equipment-centric Organizations, where the emphasis is on uptime and asset efficiency, the savings from improved materials management can be sufficiently large to cover the cost of purchasing and implementing a CMMS project.

 

Is Stock Turns the OEE of Spares Management?

Imagine for a moment that you oversee three production facilities. Imagine that these facilities require significant capital investment and sit on sizable and valuable blocks of land. Imagine also that each of these facilities produces nearly identical product that is all channelled through a single central distribution center. Now imagine that each facility operates for one shift per day, five days per week and has done so for years because the market is mature and steady. If it were your money invested in these facilities, what would you?

Key Performance Indicators for Stores and MRO

By: Daniel DeWald

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are used to measure and monitor daily, weekly, and monthly activities in MRO and Stores. Management uses them as tools to analyze past performance and make decisions as they move forward. KPIs are objective measurements, and taking these measurements is a key activity for the maintenance manager to oversee.

Maintenance Inventory and Purchasing

The inventory and purchasing staff have the largest impact on maintenance productivity than any other support group.

An interesting statement; but how does inventory and purchasing affect the maintenance organization?

MRO Inventory Rationalization and Optimization

By Ralph Rio

MRO materials inventory often has many thousands of stocking units (SKU) in small quantities with multiple stocking locations and unpredictable demand - making inventory management difficult. Maintenance organizations tend to focus on work orders and the equipment while giving lower priority to managing MRO inventory. The lack of inventory optimization results in higher inventory levels, carrying costs, and operating disruptions.

MRO Inventory: The Expert’s Monument to Failure

Have the experts failed us? Lean experts teach us to "see" the hidden factory and all its "waste," so why can't we see the mountains of MRO materials? And while Six Sigma efforts focus on vendor lead times or improved fill rates, why do few Black Belts apply the correct statistical analysis for determining stocking parameters?

Sadly, reliability engineering efforts to predict failure and develop risk management plans have failed to stop excess investments in MRO stock.

Reliability Quiz - MRO Storeroom Quiz

Test your knowledge with this quiz sponsored by MRO Connection

Repairable Spares: The Complete Program

By Daniel DeWald, CPIM

The establishment of a repairable spares program is essential to complete a solid MRO (maintenance parts, repair, and operating supplies) management program. Repairing parts before the point of failure is a strategy that reduces maintenance costs, reduces purchasing dollars in buying new equipment, and reduces the need for an increased capital budgeting process.

Squirrel Stores - How Much do Squirrel Stores Cost

By Phill Slater

The following example demonstrates the inventory effect of squirrel stores.

 

Squirrel Stores and Why You Would Be Nuts to Keep Them

by Phillip Slater

Breaking the locks was the only option. It was 2:00am and Line 1 had stopped completely.

Taming Your MRO Spend While Unlocking the Hidden Savings in Your MRO Spares Inventory

By Will Templeton and Niels Martin

Organizations spend over $500 billion annually on spare parts and supplies to support maintenance, repair and operations (MRO). So why do MRO and other "indirect materials" remain the ugly stepchildren when it comes to inventory and cost reduction initiatives? In short, it is because these initiatives can be both complex and risky. How do you keep enough material on the shelf to maintain equipment availability, uptime and service management while not breaking the bank? Read on...

The Importance of Organizing MRO Inventory & Purchasing

By Terry Wireman, CPMM, CMRP

MRO inventory and purchasing organizations are the single biggest maintenance support functions that contribute to low maintenance productivity. MRO inventory and purchasing, in this article, stands for maintenance, repair, and overhaul inventory and purchasing. Many maintenance labor delays are related to issues concerning materials and spare parts. Because the purchasing function typically procures the materials for the MRO storerooms, it also has a big impact on maintenance productivity.

The Maintenance Storeroom: Keys to Efficient Maintenance Operation

By Jeff Zeiler

Besides being the central hub for maintenance, the storeroom also provides functions that are absolutely critical to the maintenance operation. These functions are so important that when the storeroom is operating in a best practices mode, the rest of the maintenance operation can excel. In other words, the storeroom is the enabler.

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