Service parts management is the main component of a complete strategic service management process that companies use to ensure that right spare part and resources are at the right place (where the broken part is) at the right time.

Spare part A spare part, spare, service part, repair part, or replacement part, is an interchangeable part that is kept in an inventory and used for the repair or refurbishment of defective equipment/units. Spare parts are an important feature of logist ...

s, are extra parts that are available and in proximity to a functional item, such as an

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on i ...

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ...

, for which they might be used for repair.

Economic considerations

Spare parts are sometimes considered uneconomical since: * the parts might never be used * the parts might not be stored properly, leading to defects * maintaining

inventory Inventory (American English) or stock (British English) refers to the goods and materials that a business holds for the ultimate goal of resale, production or utilisation. Inventory management is a discipline primarily about specifying the sha ...

of spare parts has associated costs * parts may not be available when needed from a supplier But without the spare part on hand, a company's customer satisfaction levels could drop if a customer has to wait too long for their item to be fixed. Therefore, companies need to plan and align their service parts inventory and

workforce The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...

resources to achieve optimal customer satisfaction levels with minimal costs.

User considerations

The user of the item, which might require the parts, may overlook the economic considerations because: * the expense is not the user's but the supplier's * of a known high rate of failure of certain equipment * of delays in getting the part from a vendor or a supply room, resulting in machine outage * to have the parts on hand requires less "

paperwork Paperwork refers to written documents or the work needed to create them. Paperwork may also refer to: * Paperwork reduction, loosening or reducing documentation requirements ** Paperwork Reduction Act The Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980 (Pub. L ...

" when the parts are suddenly needed * of the mental comfort it provides to the user in knowing the parts are on-hand when needed * The parts are un-economic to be repaired i.e. it's cheaper to discard than to get it repaired

Cost-effect compromise

In many cases where the item is not stationary, a compromise is reached between cost and statistical probability. Some examples: * an

carries a less-functional "donut" tire as replacement instead of a functionally equivalent tire. * a member of a

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...

buys extra light bulbs since it is probable that one of the lights in the house will eventually burn out and require replacement. * a

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations ( computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These prog ...

user will purchase a ream of computer

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distribu ...

instead of a sheet at a time. * a race car team will bring another

to the race track "just in case". * a ship carries "spare parts" for its

in case of breakdown at sea.

Measures of effectiveness

The effectiveness of spares inventory can be measured by metrics such as fill rate and

availability In reliability engineering, the term availability has the following meanings: * The degree to which a system, subsystem or equipment is in a specified operable and committable state at the start of a mission, when the mission is called for at ...

of the end item.

References

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Notes

SD-19
in conjunction with MIL-HDBK-512, Parts Management guidance
MIL-HDBK-512
handbook is a guide for Military Acquisition Activities (AA) in the preparation of Requests for Proposals (RFPs) with respect to a parts management program, and will help determine to what extent parts management should be for a given program. It will also identify those elements in a proposal to manage the selection and use of parts. Costs Supply chain management de:Ersatzteil