Thanks for a Great Year

Before I wrap up for the year I just want to say thank you to everyone that has provided their input and support this year. 

It’s been a particularly busy year for me so here goes:

* This year I worked with clients in 14 countries – thank you all for your support and patience with time zones!

* Thank you to the editors of the magazines that have published my articles throughout the year (a total of 13 times), including the Asset Management and Maintenance Journal, Plant Engineering, Inbound Logistics, Maintenance Online, The National Provisioner, M&E Plant and Maintenance, the RCM Newsletter, and the team at Reliability Web.

* Thanks to the 670 people that participated in my presentations this year.

* My Materials and Spare Parts Management Group at LinkedIn passed 1,000 members this year, thank you to everyone that wrote questions and provided answers

* This year I joined the Committee for the Asset Management Council in Victoria – thanks to the members that elected me.

* Thank you to the readers of this newsletter who have provided feedback and examples in response to the articles that I have sent out each month.

* Thank you to those that provided feedback on The Inventory Revolution.

* Thanks to all those that joined our new online resource center at SparePartsKnowHow.com – it is your support that will make this an even better resource in 2012.

* During the year I completed 26 days of pro bono charity support, thank you to those that put their trust in my direction.

* We also launched the InitiateAction Community Fund this year and have made grants to support three young people in vocational training plus helped support young girls with babies to stay in school.  A special thank you to everyone that purchased our ebooks and supported these worthy causes.

Wow, what a year!

Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season, good health, and good fortune in 2012.

Keep on improving,

Phill

Questions to Focus Your Inventory Optimization

Usually I use this forum to provide answers but this month I have decided to pose some questions.  It’s up to you to determine the answers that will work best for you! 

As we approach the end of 2011 (can you believe that another year has gone by!) many people will be thinking about their tasks and goals for 2012.  Even if you haven’t yet started thinking about next year, and let’s face it, most of us are just trying to get this year’s stuff done before the holidays; you will need to start soon.

Here are three questions to help you focus on the actions that will make a real difference in 2012:

1.       What one thing, if you fixed it right now, would make the biggest single difference to your spare parts management outcomes in 2012?  This will be specific to you, your company, and your site.  Don’t jump too quickly in saying what you think this is.  My guess is that you could write a list!  But what I am asking is what ONE thing would make the biggest difference.

2.       What three specific actions can YOU take to change or turn around that one thing?  Think in terms of things that you can do without further approval.  For example, in a recent workshop I challenged the group to identify actions that they could take, without extra authority or support, to address their high level of inventory stocking.  They very quickly identified 10 separate actions!

3.       What is it costing to not take action?  Will you continue to over-invest in inventory that you won’t use, carry the cost of the stock that you already have that is in excess, experience stock outs and expediting costs, experience extended downtime, do rework because things aren’t done correctly, have inefficient stores or maintenance activities because of parts issues?  The costs are many and varied and again will be specific to the ONE BIG THING that you need to fix.

Why not spend a half an hour, right now, thinking through these three questions and get yourself a head start on 2012.

Keep on improving,
Phillip Slater

Webinar: Determining Spare Parts Criticality

Identifying the spare parts that are critical to your ongoing operations is perhaps one of the most important and yet least understood aspects of spare parts management.  Many companies have a definition of criticality but apply it too broadly to be of real value.  Others set parameters that don’t really reflect the critical nature of the part.  And some companies seem to have a ‘wait and see’ approach that only defines criticality after the event!  These approaches result in both increased inventory holdings and greater operational risk.

By learning how to distinguish between regular spares and critical spares you will not only improve your inventory optimization but will also minimize operational losses from not holding the right spares.

This online training event will take you through the elements and steps for determining spare parts criticality.

Webinar Dates and Time

Determining Spare Parts Criticality

Due to the international spread of SparePartsKnowHow.com members we will be running two sessions of this webinar on Wednesday 14th December 2011: Session 1 at 8AM AEDT and Session 2 at 6PM AEDT.

Session one will suit Canada, USA, Central America, South America, New Zealand, and the Australian East Coast.

Session two will suit Central & Western Australia, Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

This webinar is FREE and exclusive to members of www.SparePartsKnowHow.com.

Follow this link to join. Webinar details will be forwarded to new members.