Manufacturing industry observers often urge companies to centralize the maintenance, repair, and operations procurement category in order to control spend and improve efficiency. But at SDI, we know MRO does not constitute a single category, but many–each defined by its specific optimal inventory level, maintenance schedule, supplier options, and hundreds of additional variables.
Whether it is pipes, valves, and fittings, janitorial supplies, protective equipment, machine parts or other category, SDI has developed proprietary demand-forecasting software, supplier relationships, inventory-tracking tools and other systems for helping our manufacturing clients achieve maximum cost savings while maintaining reliable supply of all critical materials. The key is our understanding of the categories’ characteristics and where potential savings and efficiencies lie.
Critical Parts
Spare parts, including valves, motors, pumps, and many other processing components compose perhaps the most important procurement and inventory category. Failure to procure and have a needed part on-hand when the current one fails results in downtime that bears directly and negatively on the company’s profits. SDI’s sourcing and procurement services ensure minimal disruption of production and reduced fulfillment backlogs by studying and coordinating lead times with failure and reliability rates, all driven by our sophisticated database of pristine data.
Consumables and Maintenance Items
The maintenance items and consumables, such as lubricants, abrasives, blades, and bits used in the manufacturing process likely make up the bulk of your MRO inventory. SDI automates procurement for these materials using 35 demand-forecast algorithms to maintain a proper inventory level for each item. And because the same consumables are used throughout your organization, SDI has developed the technology to seamlessly connect all your facilities through a single supply chain management program to eliminate:
- Redundancies
- Stockpiling
- Off-contract ordering
This flawless synchronization of all aspects of your supply chain results in greater accountability throughout the MRO lifecycle and allows our experts to work with your finance, operations, and other leaders to identify and correct bottlenecks and logistical shortcomings before they hinder productivity.
PPE and Janitorial Supplies
The solvents, paper, and plastic products uses in site cleanup and the gloves, earplugs, safety glasses, and other standard personal protective equipment require yet another strategy. Because these products are largely commodities, and obtainable from a variety of sources, SDI is able to use its supplier relationships and aggregated contractual buying to leverage volume discounts, that we then pass along to our clients. SDI researches all SKUs and coordinates the input of our reliability engineers and onsite managers to leverage our extensive supplier stable to achieve customized, scalable MRO procurement of these materials for our clients. This includes strict compliance to pre-determined sourcing strategies and a focus on the company’s overall MRO supply chain needs – within the site and among all company facilities. With failsafe checks devised by Strategic Sourcing, our experts ensure compliance that the right parts are always purchased on the right contracts.
Procurement as Part of the Total Supply Chain Solution
SDI’s MRO procurement and supply chain services is committed to keeping your plant running through precise purchase and inventory control. By strict management of in-stock items and meticulous sourcing of non-stock materials, we help clients realize:
- Significant cost savings
- Increased production time
- Fewer unscheduled maintenance events
- and other efficiencies
All MRO supplies are not created equal, and each category requires a separate, optimal strategy for procurement. SDI’s buying expertise and reliability engineering seamlessly integrate these categories with financial, production, and supply chain functions to minimize total landed costs and maximize operations.
Contact a MRO procurement expert today to find out how SDI can help you take back control of your buying operations.
