Overview
Features
Industry solutions
Parts management software, also known as inventory management software, is used by maintenance departments to purchase, organize, track, and manage MRO (maintenance, repair, and operations) inventory and spare parts at their facility.
While there are dozens of features of parts management software (opens in new tab), most can be distilled into these primary ones:
There are four categories of inventory that parts management software can help maintenance teams manage:
Maintenance teams can benefit from parts management software in the following ways:
Because inventory usage can be more accurately tracked and predicted, there is less money wasted on overstocked parts and excess inventory. Slow-moving inventory can be drastically reduced in favor of more commonly used inventory. Asset downtime is now more likely to be kept to a minimum since stocks of critical components can be maintained or ordered well in advance of the predicted maintenance date.
Parts information can easily be stored in the software’s database along with other information like stock levels of a spare part, the asset it’s associated with, and recommended use. Workers can then reference this information to easily find the component before they go out on a job. This can make preventive maintenance more efficient by reducing the mean time to repair since technicians no longer have to comb through the entire stockroom looking for the right part that may not even be in stock anymore.
Unlike manual inventory counts, which are labor intensive and error-prone, cycle counts done with the assistance of parts management software are more accurate, and discrepancies are resolved more quickly. Counts can even be updated every time parts are used to fulfill a work order. Correct cycle counts are crucial for inventory accuracy, which can impact everything from maintenance response times to health and safety.
MRO inventory software is a specialized software that tracks all the consumables, components, and parts necessary to keep a facility’s assets up and running. This can also include goods like uniforms and personal protective equipment (PPE). MRO inventory software helps manage and monitor stock levels by providing an item usage history and can optimize order levels to prevent stockouts.
While this software has a comprehensive feature set when it comes to managing a storeroom, it does not include many of the other capabilities that maintenance teams require, like work order management.
A CMMS is an all-in-one maintenance management platform. In addition to managing the usage of parts, it can also manage other aspects of a maintenance department’s operations, like work orders, performance tracking, technician schedules, and more.
In the area of spare parts inventory management, a CMMS allows inventory managers to build parts lists and bills of materials and attach them to digital work orders so parts costs and consumption can be tracked. It also allows them to automatically send purchase orders when spare parts run low and to run reports on inventory across multiple locations.
An enterprise asset management platform takes a more high-level approach to inventory control. Instead of focusing on individual parts and components, it instead oversees the lifecycle of assets within the facility. An EAM records the entire history of an asset, from design to installation and to any maintenance jobs done on it within its lifetime. While inventory tracking is part of this, it is a small part is suited to be a more comprehensive (and costly) asset tracking system.
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