5 Tips For Keeping A Proper Industrial Parts Inventory

Do you need to have an efficient day to day operation in your plant? Then there is a need to maintain a well thought industrial parts inventory. Keeping an industrial parts inventory and managing industrial parts is often a headache to any operations manager. However, when well handled, it will help increase your company productivity, minimize cases of losses due to downtime and at the same time save on unplanned and impromptu purchases. Without a doubt, keeping proper industrial parts inventory will go a long way in enabling you to manage the problem of spare parts. Consider the following 5 tips to practice proper industrial parts inventory.

1. Putting Purchasing Priorities Right

Planned work is usually easy to implement, and so is a well-planned industrial parts inventory. Of course, different industrial parts in your plant will differ in how critical they are to your day-to-day operations. So, when you plan to acquire new industrial spare parts, whether that be insulators for use in switchgear from Meister International or new heat sensors, you need to prioritize the orders placed in line with usage. Making a list according to priority will help you make the work of your industrial spare parts management easy and efficient. You need to ask the following questions: How critical is the part? How long is the downtime in cases of a breakdown? When placing an order, you prepare a reference list. It will streamline the placing of orders, determining the quantities and the time to purchase industrial parts.

2. Cost Of New Industrial Parts

Having considered the parts to give higher priority when placing an order, it is judicious to evaluate the anticipated cost of fixing the new industrial part acquired in case of a breakdown. At times the new industrial part can have a higher downtime than the older ones, which is not favorable for your business. Always ensure that the new industrial parts are the ones readily available and with minimum downtime. It ought to be captured well in your inventory management system. It is necessary to factor in the cost of fixing the newly acquired parts supposing they happen to break down.

3. Keep Maintenance Data

Any unforeseen stalling of production always hampers your business. The unprecedented downtime and reactive repairs of the industrial parts endanger your machinery since it can never be thorough enough since it is a makeshift measure. Make sure to have scheduled maintenance of your industrial equipment. It helps you to be prepared upfront. The use of data monitors will help identify which industrial parts need to be serviced or replaced and placing well-thought orders in time. A data-backed industrial parts inventory goes a long way in making your operations smooth.

4. Creativity In Managing Lead Time

Lead time is the interval between the initiation and completion of a thing. Whenever the machinery breaks down, the downtime is determined by your promptness in replacing the faulty industrial part. In redeeming time during a breakdown, it is advisable to consider a supplier who would promptly supply you with the necessary parts. For a critical industrial part, it is helpful that you plan and prioritize to search for them when preparing your inventory. When you have an efficient lead time resource, it will result in efficiency in operations.

5. Ensuring Adequate Protection Of The Inventory Facility

It is equally needful to ensure that the safety of the parts bought is taken care of during your planning. In the inventory, take care of the security and access to the storehouse. Ensure that it is not an open place with access limited to the authorized personnel only. It will help you to be able to account for every part. Also, ensure that there are a single entry and a counting system in place. The inventory has to be kept safe with surveillance cameras, access keycards, and entry badges for the persons given access.

As has been noted, keeping proper industrial parts inventory will go a long way in ensuring that operations of your plant are efficient and hustle free. In short, make sure you have the right purchasing priorities, consider the cost of acquiring new industrial parts, keep maintenance data, being creative in managing lead time and ensure adequate protection of the inventory facility.