Up Time Magazine- April/May 2008 - (Page 52) Leaders in Lubricants service coverage you don’t need any further spares. Unfortunately, many companies hold more than they need for 100% service coverage. Figure 1 represents the confidence level of spare parts availability plotted against the number of spares held. In this example, if the company holds X spares their confidence of availability will be 100%. Obviously there cannot be greater than 100%, so if they hold more than X spares the confidence level will still be 100%. Therefore, any more than X spares is a total waste of money! Whether or not the spare is critical, holding more than the 100% level produces no benefit. The cost benefit of holding spares is not universal, even for an individual item. The probability of usage reduces for each subsequent spare and the additional benefit diminishes to zero as the number of spares increase. Still not convinced that you should review your critical spares? Consider these issues. What if the spare is no longer critical? Perhaps the operational needs have changed, but no one has updated your data. Should you still carry just as many, or any at all? What if the spare is no longer usable? Perhaps a review will identify if the spare itself has deteriorated through a lack of appropriate care. Imagine needing the critical spare, only to find that it won’t perform! What if the equipment that the spare is for has been modified? Recently, I saw a situation where a gearbox could no longer be used in its intended location because the connections and motor had been changed. To my surprise, this gearbox was still regarded as a ‘critical’ spare! So it appears that not all critical spares are equal. Neither are all spares classified as critical actually critical, nor are all spares not classified as critical actually not critical! Confused? For the working engineer this means that defining a spare as critical is not an excuse for not including the spare in your inventory review. Even with critical spares, it is possible that too many are being held. With appropriate thinking and judgment, ‘critical’ spares may actually provide a significant opportunity for your inventory review and a review of the associated inventory management processes could deliver significant benefits. Ironically, the ultimate opportunity might be the chance to hold even more of the required spares, as reducing the holding of unnecessary spares creates the chance to invest in other spares. This might enable you to improve both the business performance of the maintenance function and, by ensuring the appropriate mix of spares, perhaps improve your uptime. Phillip Slater is an Inventory Process Optimization Specialist and the author of the book Smart Inventory Solutions (Industrial Press 2007). For more information contact Phillip at pslater@InitiateAction.com or visit the website www.InitiateAction.com Reference 1 - Smart Inventory Solutions, p154, , Phillip Slater (Industrial Press, 2007) Did You Know . . . . Lubrication Engineers, Inc. is the Reliability Focused Enhanced Lubricants™ Supplier? LE Enhanced Lubricants™ are engineered to provide exceptional equipment protection and a high return on investment (ROI) to your bottom-line. Whether your equipment application requires mineral oil or synthetic based lubricants, LE has the know how to recommend the best LE Enhanced Lubricants™ to meet the need. LE Enhanced Lubricants™– Essential for critical applications where reliability is a must! Exposure to the harshest of environments caused this Township major concern with premature bearing failures while using commercial grade lubricants. After switching to LE’s 3752 ALMAGARD®, bearing failures were eliminated. “When it comes to a great product and great customer support, Lubrication Engineers can’t be beat. I am so happy they have made my job easier. Tell anyone out there I found the answer, I found Lubrication Engineers.” –Ed Myers, Supervisor Township of Pittsgrove Dept. of Public Works Pittsgrove, New Jersey LE Products are Manufactured Under an ISO 9001:2000 Certified Quality System 300 Bailey Ave. • Fort Worth, TX 76107 • 800-537-7683 • www.le-inc.com april/may 2008 http://www.le-inc.com http://www.InitiateAction.com
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