A cross-functional, multi-disciplined team that focuses on MRO issues is a must. MRO inventory management is too often thought of as just a storeroom function. In reality, it is a horizontally, cross-functional activity involving, maintenance, operations, capital projects, procurement, and stores. At PCA we promote what is referred to as an MRO Focus Team. This team consists of personnel from accounting, maintenance, maintenance planning, manufacturing, capital projects, purchasing, reliability, and the storeroom who represent their function’s concerns with parts availability ...

Some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can be misleading, if you only see part of the picture of inventory health. Inventory reporting as a financial matrix is required by shareholders and, in most cases, by the laws of business operation. But only reporting inventory value (which is an accounting average of overage and underage) can have disastrous consequences. Reporting a benchmark financial value of 98% accuracy is of little concern to operations and maintenance if a critical part is not available when needed ...

Effective MRO (Maintenance and Repair Parts and Operating Supplies) materials management is simply a derivative of the time-honored function of Supply Demand Planning. Day one in Econ 101, the professor presents a graph explaining the supply demand continuum. That same simple concept applies to MRO parts management. There is certainly the supply aspect; does the storeroom have what is needed when it is needed? But the key to having what is needed, when it is needed, is dependent upon robust demand-side signals ...