Attaching a parts list to a machine

A parts list attached to a piece of equipment turns "what does this machine need and do we have it" into a ten second question. Without it, that question is a walk to the storeroom and a conversation, in the middle of a breakdown.

Do not document every machine

A complete bill of materials for every asset is a project that never finishes. Build them where they pay: on the critical equipment, and on anything that has failed more than twice.

Build it from what actually gets fitted

The manufacturer’s parts book lists everything and is mostly noise. The useful list is the five to fifteen items that actually get fitted to that machine, which you already know from your own repair history.

The fastest way to build one is retrospective: export the parts issued against that asset over three years and start from there. It takes minutes and it is better information than any catalogue.

What each line needs

• •What it is, in words a technician would use
• •The manufacturer part number, and the equivalent standard component number where one exists
• •How many are fitted
• •Where it is stocked, and how many are on the shelf right now
• •Lead time if it is not stocked

The standard component number is the one that pays

Recording that the machine takes a specific bearing size rather than only the manufacturer’s code means the part can be sourced anywhere at three in the morning. It also reveals how many of your machines share parts, which is the input to every stocking decision you make afterwards.

Keep it current from the work

Every time a part is fitted that is not on the list, it gets added. Make that a step in closing the job rather than a separate exercise, and the list maintains itself. Lists built once and never touched are wrong within two years and then nobody trusts them.

Put it where the technician is

On the asset record, reachable by scanning the code on the machine. A parts list in a shared folder is not consulted by somebody standing in a plant room with a torch, and being consulted at that moment is the entire purpose.