Since the pandemic massively influenced supply chains with unforeseen and never-ending disruption, the one thing we strive to take control of is the development of efficient, lean, and clever operations. It forced the manufacturing industry to rethink Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing – a strategy that was once a realistic industry goal.
Data shows that some manufacturers are already placing orders for Quarter 3 and 4 of 2022, indicating that ‘time’ in JIT manufacturing is relative and ever-changing.
These days it’s not only about being faster but more innovative. Manufacturers need to ensure they know what JIT means for their plants by establishing a proper asset management plan reinforced by a smooth-running system to ensure business progression.
In reality, organizations can adapt JIT strategies to include supply chain issues and delays. Historically, accessible quantities would likely be at low levels with a fully operational supply chain. This saves precious space, makes ordering simple, and assists with cost control. JIT can still be implemented, but organizations must have a better dynamic buffer.
As a first objective, organizations must have exceptional visibility into their machinery and procurement strategies. This begins with good parts management.
- Where parts are stored
- Visibility into parts necessary for upcoming predictive/preventive maintenance
- Where to order parts from
- A complete catalog of parts
- Visibility into what is on back-order, order, and other quantity information
- Visibility into parts with ordering buffers and low supply
Part of the solution is visibility. But automation and optimized use of data ensure more intelligent decision-making created for the long term. Adaptive organizations, specifically, maintain databases for their maintenance strategies and use big data to aid decision-making and increase profit and efficiency.
Combining an inventory management system with spare parts data allows manufacturers to circumvent necessary spare part stockouts, which lead to unexpected downtime and cuts into the bottom line.
Organizations can improve their spare parts inventory in many ways to ensure manufacturers have the right equipment parts, at a reasonable cost, at the right time. For example, Proteus CMMS allows manufacturing organizations visibility that is automated through tracking data around part quality and physical counts, in addition to suppliers and sources. Maintenance technicians can use their mobile devices to scan barcodes to get insight into the number of available parts. In addition, manufacturing organizations can work more effectively by associating their assets’ bills of materials with their spare parts inventory. By doing that, maintenance workers can get a more extensive and more accurate understanding of part location and availability.
Companies must include clever spare parts inventory management in preventive maintenance strategies. To allow manufacturers to create an effective purchase order process that ensures part availability, data integration is needed to capture a holistic view of spare parts status, availability, and quality. Manufacturers should ensure they own a list of parts associated with preventive maintenance in a platform that all staff members can access. This will decrease the amount of profit-reducing downtime.
More efficient data and increased visibility allow manufacturers to grasp and define time in JIT manufacturing. Many technicians can tell you how they’ve seen an asset needing maintenance, then having to walk across the manufacturing facility to a depot with spare parts to see the part is out of stock. This is a terrible waste of time. A technician can find out if the necessary part is in stock before wasting time searching for it with a CMMS.
CMMS software gives the manufacturing industry an improved view of time. It allows managers to adjust Just-in-Time (JIT) inventory management strategies to help decrease lead times and improve control and ordering costs. If you are interested in learning more or acquiring CMMS software, feel free to request a free demo, give us a call at +1 (262) 241-3845 or send an email.
