Maintenance: PARTS MANAGEMENT

Material control starts with the definition of spare parts and equipment lists and ends with vendors and purchase control. In between are the review of issues and receipts, and inventory control.

There are numerous computerized inventory management systems which can be procured commercially.

Usually material control falls under the heading “Accounting through Stores (sometimes called Warehousing) and Purchasing.” There are operations where maintenance assumes some responsibility. It is not important which department has control. But it should be recognized as a special function, vital to the success of an operation. There must be a clear understanding of the responsibilities.

Maintenance contributes to the control of materials through first-line foremen. Their participation should be limited to an audit of the inventory of critical equipment spare parts in order to recommend additions, deletions or changes in re-order points.

Vendor salesmen are the source of information of new developments for improving operation or prolonging plant and equipment life. Their key contact is the foreman. With his intimate knowledge of the operating conditions he casts a critical vote on whether a trial run of a prototype part should be made. He witnesses the results.

These two contributions should be the only intrusions by maintenance into material control. In return, material control requires expertise in organizing the flow of material, just as maintenance organizes the flow of labor. Parts have to be identified, their location identified in adequate storage areas where they receive whatever protection is required, their availability has to be assured and procedures established for their issue and delivery. Information has to be provided on the status of parts, receipts and disbursements have to be accounted for, and notification of parts availability has to be provided. Calculations have to be made on order points and quantities based on frequency of use.

Keeping a supply of a specific part in inventory is expensive — in the range of 25% of the part’s cost to keep it in stock each year. Periodic reports should be provided on the costs, type and number of parts issued in the period, as well as turnover and supply in stock. With regard to eliminating obsolete stock, records should be scanned periodically so as to identify items that have not been used for a considerable period of time.

There should be no direct ordering of maintenance materials. All materials should be drawn from stock by requisition.

In the interaction of maintenance and material control, particular attention is required for functions which cause conflict if sound practices are not established and maintained. These include:

* Stores manning — Adequate stores manning minimizes delays in servicing maintenance personnel.

* Parts delivery — When jobs are scheduled, requisitions forwarded to stores with required dates and quantities should activate delivery of parts on time to pick-up areas. Wasteful delays for maintenance and production are avoided.

* Free issuing of small high-turnover items — such as nuts, bolts, screws and washers. This eliminates the need for identification and paperwork.

* Parts identification — Acquisition is speeded up when there is easy identification of parts from an updated stores catalogue by stock number, manufacturer’s part number, full or partial name, and cross reference to other interchangeable stock.

* Parts location — The marking and identification of shelves and bins inside satellite stores facilitates locating the part. Sometimes an unnecessarily complicated coding system is devised.

* Satellite stores — An honour system does not work. Establishing and monitoring the operation of satellite stores reduces unnecessary stock-outs and the need for write-off of missing stock. Finding a practical solution is often not easy; for example, when the stores are in a small underground shop on a 3-shift operation.

* Availibility — An updated inventory listing should be kept, which provides the part number, the description of the part, the equipment number, whether the part is in stock, and an interchangibility cross reference. This listing is referred to when the availibility of known parts for a job has to be confirmed before the job is sheduled by maintenance.

* Delivery status — Urgency is a maintenance by-word, often overused. Expediting is a function of procurement which should always recognize the particular problem at hand and respond appropriately. There should be constant liaison between purchasing and maintenance planning for whom the validity of material delivery promises is vital.

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