Maintenance that announces itself.
A work order waits on a part that the system says is there. Someone walks three rooms to find a wrench. And last year's inspection sits in a folder nobody opens. This is what the market calls maintenance, repair and parts management, also known as MRO, and it stands or falls on knowing where something is and when it is due again.
We start with one workflow and measure the time between report and completion.
Sound familiar?
These situations come up at technical service providers, at in-house maintenance departments and at anyone keeping machines or vehicles running.
- A work order stands still on a part the system says is there.
- Finding the right tool takes more time than the repair itself.
- Nobody knows when this machine was last checked over.
- An interval gets missed because there is no counter on the item.
- Parts are only reordered once the bin turns out to be empty.
What it costs
What waiting on a part costs
Work orders per week
Share that waits on material
Waiting time per case, in hours
Weeks per year
Per year
936 hours
Calculated with euros per hour, and with the share of the theoretical gain you actually achieve:
- Conservative
- 374 hours16,848 euros per year
- Expected
- 562 hours25,272 euros per year
- Potential
- 749 hours33,696 euros per year
Worked example based onforty work orders a week of which fifteen percent stands still on material for three hours, over 52 weeks. Only the waiting time of the technician, so without the downtime of the machine he is working on and without the rush transport that sometimes comes with it. Not a measurement at a customer. The numbers are adjustable: put your own situation in and the outcome follows along.
How maintenance becomes predictable
The order is the same as everywhere else: first know what you have and where it is, then hang the work on it. The other way around you build a schedule on stock that is not right.
1 / Make parts and tools readable
Labels on the parts bins and on the tools, and a reorder point per item. At issue it comes off stock without anyone entering anything.
2 / Hang the work on the item
A work order belongs to a machine or a vehicle and not to a line in a list. You create it yourself, or your ERP or WMS pushes it in. That second one means you do not have to change your existing process.
3 / Record what was measured
An inspection with readings and photos, linked to the item. A meter reading belongs with it: hours, kilometers or number of uses, whichever applies to that item.
4 / The interval speaks up
The meter reading and the previous inspection tell you when it is due again. That is the difference between planning maintenance and chasing a breakdown.
What this does and what it does not do
What this does and what it does not do
Wel
- Issue, take back and replenish parts and tools on a reorder point
- Create work orders yourself, or have your ERP or WMS push them in
- Inspections with readings and photos, fixed to the item
- An interval per item: after so many hours, kilometers or months it comes back
- The history per machine or vehicle: which action when, and where it was then
- Block an item until it has been released
Niet
- Fuel, fueling data or trip registration: that is vehicle administration
- Linking a driver to a vehicle, or keeping track of insurance
- The paperwork around an inspection at an authority
- Your maintenance contracts or invoicing: that stays your own system
- Predicting when something breaks: it works with intervals, not with sensors
Those first three are the line between maintenance and vehicle administration. We do the condition of the item and the work on it; a fleet package or an ERP does the paperwork around it. Anyone expecting both from one system is in for a disappointment.
What changes in practice
The work order that does not wait
The part is there or it is not, and you know that before the technician sets off.Tools with the technician
Issue and return in one action, so the wrench that was lying three rooms away can be found.The interval that reports in
After so many hours or kilometers the maintenance comes back. You plan it instead of chasing a breakdown.The history per machine
What was done when, and with which reading. At an inspection or a complaint that is the difference.
What this looks like in your operation
The same solution lands differently on a production floor than in a warehouse. Pick your own situation and you will see what changes for you, and what a Proof of Value measures there.
Assets & equipment
Find tools, equipment and carriers faster and lose fewer of them. Measure your time spent searching and prove it on one asset category.
Manufacturing & material flow
Less searching for material, less manual posting and stock that adds up. Start with a small, paid Proof of Value on one material flow.
How we prove it: a small, paid Proof of Value
We follow one workflow from report to completion, the old way and then with labels on the parts and the tools. Two measurements: lead time, and how often the work stands still on material.
Scope
- One workflow or one machine park
- Temporary labels on the parts and the tools that go with them
- One issue point with a read moment, handheld or scan bin
- Baseline measurement: the same flow as it is now, with the lead time included
- Tracking how often a work order waits on material, and for how long
Go or no-go
After the measurement you know how much of the lead time is waiting and what causes that waiting. If it turns out you did have the parts in stock and the searching was the problem, that is a different solution than reordering, and the report says so.
What you are probably thinking
We already have a maintenance system.
Then it stays. What a system like that does not know is where the part physically is and whether it is still there. STOCKflow delivers that reality and pushes it back; your work orders can keep coming from your existing system.
Our technicians are not going to do an extra scan.
We are not asking them to. At a scan bin or a gate the action that is already there is enough: put it down or walk past. Where that is not possible, a handheld is one sweep over a bin instead of item by item.
Is this going to predict when a machine breaks down?
No, and we do not promise that either. It works with intervals and meter readings, not with sensors in the machine. That is less exciting and it works on everything you already have.