The maintenance storeroom is a key department in a facility. It is a profit center and supports Preventive Maintenance (PM) and Predictive Maintenance (PdM) efforts. It supplies parts for emergencies and unexpected breakdowns. It contributes to improving reliability for maintenance by the purchase and storage of quality parts. Equipment Bills of Materials are kept up to date and maintained, so that the right parts, right quantities, with the right specifications are able to be determined by the buyer, and by the maintenance crew. The storeroom is an integral piece of the maintenance strategy.
Excellence of a maintenance strategy begins with the forecast. MRO Buyers are brought into the buying decisions when the capital plan is originally developed. The MRO Buyer may be involved in the actual purchase of capital equipment; but if not, involved in the selection and purchase of the initial replacement parts for the equipment. All of these efforts are based on a budget, with all variances investigated with the purpose of holding costs down and following the plan.
There are five strong pillars needed to develop a program of MRO (Maintenance parts, repair parts, and operating supplies) and the maintenance storeroom. The pillars are 1. Storeroom Management; 2. MRO Buying and Purchasing Management; 3. Inventory Management; 4. Supplier Management; and 5. Work Processes. The roof that holds the pillars together is the Computer System. Recommended is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system which includes all plants and common part numbers. The base consists of three things—management commitment, the establishment of links among departments and facilities, and the management emphasis on continuous improvement, quality assurance, and team involvement. All of these together create a solid base to move forward and become a reliability excellent storeroom that is responsive to the needs of maintenance, the plant, and the enterprise.
Excellence of a maintenance strategy begins with the forecast. MRO Buyers are brought into the buying decisions when the capital plan is originally developed. The MRO Buyer may be involved in the actual purchase of capital equipment; but if not, involved in the selection and purchase of the initial replacement parts for the equipment. All of these efforts are based on a budget, with all variances investigated with the purpose of holding costs down and following the plan.
There are five strong pillars needed to develop a program of MRO (Maintenance parts, repair parts, and operating supplies) and the maintenance storeroom. The pillars are 1. Storeroom Management; 2. MRO Buying and Purchasing Management; 3. Inventory Management; 4. Supplier Management; and 5. Work Processes. The roof that holds the pillars together is the Computer System. Recommended is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system which includes all plants and common part numbers. The base consists of three things—management commitment, the establishment of links among departments and facilities, and the management emphasis on continuous improvement, quality assurance, and team involvement. All of these together create a solid base to move forward and become a reliability excellent storeroom that is responsive to the needs of maintenance, the plant, and the enterprise.
