Talking Points
Part 1: Inventory Management: Managers Need to Take Reins
Part 2: Fresh Set of Eyes Helps See Big Picture
Inventory Management: Managers Need to Take Reins
By Dan Hounsell, Editor - March 2010
One of the toughest challenges any manager faces also is a major source of savings. Maybe it’s time to bite the bullet and manage inventory more efficiently.
In the time I’ve been observing the maintenance and engineering management profession, few issues have elicited as many eye rolls and shrugs from managers as inventory management. It seems every facility has some sort of unmanageable inventory issue. Large stashes of hoarded equipment and spare parts, going largely unused but tying up valuable cash. Shoddy, paper-based recordkeeping. Inventories with hundreds, even thousands, of obsolete spare parts and equipment.
The problems are so vast, many managers can’t figure out where to begin the process of streamlining their inventory management practices. In such cases, maybe the best answer is, anywhere. Almost any action is likely to help.
Consider centralizing the purchasing function and involving procurement professionals in the organization. Use fewer national contracts, and make buyers adhere to them more strictly. Make specific departments or operations responsible for certain product categories. Bring in an outside party to manage and take ownership of the inventory. Standardize equipment specifications, which, in turn, will decrease the number of needed replacement parts. Cut back the number of suppliers. (Why use 100 when 10 or 5 will do?)
Start anywhere, but start now. Sure, organizations are touchy these days about unnecessary costs, so look at it this way: The only thing a manager can’t afford to do is nothing.
Dan Hounsell offers observations about trends in maintenance and engineering management and the evolving role of managers in facilities.
Comments
Harryk1527 wrote re: Inventory Management: Managers Need to Take Reins
on 4/12/2010 1:15:23 PM
I too agree that this is a huge issue when all aspects of an organization should be LEAN thinking. I have heard responses like"it's too much work", or "we don't care about inventory". What you describe is the difference between success and ultimate failure of an organization, or at least a person within that organization! Today's facility manager is responsible for everything, not what he or she chooses to manage! Use a computer? You better realize that systems are necessary, and your skill at managing them is as important as your memory of what is in inventory! http://www.eaglecmms.com/Industry/Manufacturing.htm
rflath wrote re: Inventory Management: Managers Need to Take Reins
on 3/18/2010 7:30:21 AM
I could not agree more. Unused and under-managed inventory is a very big problem just waiting to be discovered. Once discovered by an outsider, it can become a source of embarrasment to the Facility Manager.
Having a competaent Storekeeper and an electronic inventory system with good reporting capabilities are two of the best investments any Facility group can make.
