Effective MRO (Maintenance and Repair Parts and Operating Supplies) inventory 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 inventory 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.

Good maintenance planning, knowing your vendor base, and both internal and external optimized lead times can lower your costs and further assure having the right parts, in the right quantities, at the right place, at the right time.

At PCA we were introduced to a client site in the middle of the California desert that employed nine storeroom attendants, and two maintenance planners. Equipment uptime was poor. A new plant manager brought in PCA to implement our maintenance and materials management processes. Today there is a four-week out planning cycle, three storeroom attendants, and six planners. The cost of the on-hand inventory has been reduced by 50%. Equipment availability is high.

There is a scheduled Down Day once a week in each of the plant’s four major operation areas. The plant manager only has two Down Day requirements. First, that the operation never comes back up until all the planned work is completed, and second, that it never comes up later than scheduled. Parts availability is no longer a problem.