Good Storeroom Management Benefits Maintenance

by Mike Messer, RSI Management, Inc.

Is your storeroom or tool crib a beneficial asset to your maintenance team or is it just overhead? If you answered “overhead,” it is time to better manage this needed asset. The storeroom can be a vital element in reducing machine downtime and maximizing machine uptime. Proper organization, inventory control, and vendor selection will help improve the efficiency of your tool crib and maintenance team.

Organization
A well-organized storeroom, in terms of storage space and individual parts, makes it easier for maintenance people to locate parts faster. Time spent in the crib increases the downtime of the machine that is being maintained. If your facility is fortunate enough to have a full-time clerk, it will be easier to keep the crib area organized and will lessen the time it takes to find a part.

Proper inventory control techniques
It is always a struggle to have all of the arts your maintenance department needs when it needs them. It is also a struggle to please the accounting department on the appropriate dollar amount for maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) inventory. It is this dilemma that makes proper inventory control imperative to your operations. The following techniques should be practiced in every tool crib:

• Set maximum and minimum levels so the storeroom keeps the high-usage items on the shelf and the software package automatically generates reorder reports.
• Track usage history using an integrated computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).
• Enter issues and receipts into the CMMS on a daily basis.
• Identify critical long lead-time items and track their usage separately.
• Tie each item used to a specific machine and job. This will help determine machine life and efficiency.
• Leave items stocked by local vendors with those vendors for just-in-time delivery.
• Keep the entire crib under tight controls to eliminate shrinkage. (Card readers and/or staffed storerooms are essential.)

Inventory control is a discipline; therefore, put your most diligent, disciplined person on this task. Written procedures that the entire maintenance team follows is an essential key in maintaining the MRO inventory.

In order to keep both maintenance and accounting happy, find out what your annual MRO purchases total and shoot for an inventory level that is at least half of the annual purchases. This number will vary depending on how large an inventory you have of critical items. Most manufacturing facilities still average only one turn per year from the storeroom; however, a well-managed storeroom should achieve two to four turns per year.

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