As they tackle decades of disorganization, waste and neglect, storeroom managers are finding that spare parts are hiding more than just spare change.

By Josh Bond, Contributing Editor · September 7, 2016

As a miniature warehouse, the storeroom suffers from many of the wastes that are being systematically removed from warehouses everywhere. Excess “just in case” inventory is no longer acceptable, as are the costs of stock-outs followed by expedited replenishment. Haphazard storage and tracking can lead to needless expenses and lost man-hours, but the impact on production is the primary risk. However, just as optimized warehousing can have a broader impact on a supply chain’s performance, so can a disciplined storeroom provide value beyond the mere storage of parts.

A common theme is to see the storeroom operation as a necessary evil, says Mike Waltrip, vice president of industrial parts services for Advanced Technology Services. Customers often don’t understand how the operation is performing. They might hear from manufacturing that there are problems when a machine is down and they’re waiting on a part, but they don’t always translate that issue back to the storeroom.

Read the full article in Modern Material Handling here.