But, historically, the spare parts store-room has been treated as the corpora-tion’s red-headed stepchild. Despite the talent, experience and dedication of storeroom personnel, mainte-nance, repair and operations (MRO) parts storage areas often survive only from the crumbs that fall under the financial table. Storerooms are allocated money for replacement of parts and supplies, but no funding is available to clean it up, put it in order, improve operational efficiency and install more efficient and functional stor-age fixtures. Competition from both Europe and Asia, and the introduction of Kaizen, 6-Sigma, 5-S and the lean manufacturing concept, changes all that. Unscheduled machine downtime has been replaced with computerized mainte-nance management system (CMMS) aided maintenance planning, predictive and preventive maintenance scheduling and manufacturing-friendly maintenance work. These advances compel storerooms to be more organized, more efficient and more automated to keep up with the requirements and demands of a proactive maintenance department. Simply put, the right parts need to be available in the right quantity and at the right time. MRO parts storerooms are still over-looked as a source for overall corporate savings. Time is money, and unscheduled pro-duction machinery downtime is big money. In the case of the food and beverage industries, the big money can go down the drain — literally. The bottom line of any company is pain-fully and negatively affected by something as simple as not being able to rapidly locate an inexpensive, over-the-counter part. Disorganization and inefficiency increase lost profits. If the part has to be flown in from any-where — notably overseas — then over-night shipping becomes a very expensive option, especially with today’s oil prices. One company had to charter a jet to fly to Europe to pick up two boxes of parts essential to keep their production line run-ning. Their profit margin shrank by $55,000. Money spent on organization in MRO storerooms is an investment against lost profit. An MRO parts storeroom should oper-ate like a store: Clean, organized, labeled, well-stocked and well-run. There is a place for everything, every-thing is in its place and the owner controls the cash flow. The storeroom presents a clean, pro-fessional-looking appearance generating confidence through good customer service for its customers. Thus, storerooms become profit centers by generating savings in the following ways: Organization ■ Eliminates the need for costly expan-sion or the construction of a new storage facility ■ Maximizes the effective use of exist-ing space through efficient design and setup ■ Replaces old, homemade or barely-functional storage fixtures with mod-ern, efficient units that increase parts storage density ■ Sorts parts generically, by specific machine or by process, expediting their location and retrieval ■ Allows for prompt part location result-ing in shorter machine downtime ■ Creates accurate physical inventories that eliminate overstock, out-of-stock or is-it-stocked problems ■ Frees up storage fixtures and storage areas for other uses ■ Enhances part and tool security and reduces storeroom traffic. Consolidation ■ Combines like parts and tools and stores them together in one place ■ Minimizes on-hand stock ■ Reduces overall inventory dollar value ■ Makes the setup of minimum and reorder quantities more accurate ■ Storage areas and storage fixtures are freed up for other uses ■ Eliminates part “stashes” and satellite storage areas ■ Reuses existing storage fixtures if they are functional and in good repair. Automation ■ Bar coding technology makes part and tool management rapid and more accurate ■ Bar coding records all aspects of every transaction accurately ■ Bar coding eliminates manual data entry — and mistakes — for parts checkout, receipt and reorder ■ Bar coding eliminates inefficient and time-wasting paper-and-pencil parts checkout ■ Allows physical inventories and cycle counts to be conducted more effi-ciently because the parts are bar code labeled ■ Provides a variety of useful reports ■ The storeroom clerk continues to manage stores effectively on a day-to-day basis. Most companies cannot afford a char-tered jet to deliver emergency parts they need to keep their production line running. But, every company can invest in the setup and implementation of an efficient, organized, well-stocked and well-run parts storeroom. To attain this goal, three major hurdles need to be overcome: 1. Recognition that a serious, costly problem exists 2. Seek solutions to resolve and elimi-nate that problem 3. Commit to and implement those solutions. A well-organized storeroom provides the maintenance department the support it needs to keep production machinery and facilities support equipment in the best possible operating condition. The spare parts required are available, are located quickly and are reordered in a timely manner. Repairs are made quickly and efficient-ly, and the company remains profitable, competitive and successful in the global economy. So, where are you: Picking your way through the minefield of a little boy’s bed-room; or navigating the aisles of a clean, neat, lean and reliable storeroom? CM www.cmmonline.com 31
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