Spare Parts
Possessing a large supply of spare parts can definitely shorten the time to complete a repair; however, having too many spare parts can be a problem as well. Maintaining a large inventory is expensive, especially if you have 100 items that just became obsolete. You will need to keep spare parts in stock and you will need to manage them. Consider the following tips when determining how to manage your spare parts inventory:
- Know the frequency of failures and, therefore, the number of the replacements you are likely to need for your organizational situation.
- Know how long it takes to get replacements and order appropriately.
- Know your suppliers and how quickly they can provide parts when you need them. This way you need keep only what you need on your shelf.
- Buy spare components in bulk whenever possible, especially inexpensive components such as floppy disk drives, cables, mouse devices, ink-jet cartridges, and so forth.
- Standardize your parts to keep your inventory small (see the next section).