In any business, smooth operation is essential to success. If you can’t supply what people want when they want it, they are likely to seek an alternative provider.
Smooth operation relies on being able to keep production lines running, and an element of that is effective storage and retrieval of parts.
If a storage carousel breaks down there’s not just the cost of repairing or replacing it to take into account, there’s also the danger customers will cancel orders and then become ex-customers as they look elsewhere to have their needs fulfilled, plus the cost of missed opportunities as potential new customers have to be turned away. You might end up paying your staff to do nothing, as well.
Regular maintenance
Regular planned maintenance generally means no unexpected downtime, and so no disruption, as most issues are identified and dealt with before they have an impact. But when maintenance, or a breakdown, mean that parts to fix the storage carousel are required, and those parts aren’t available, there’s a problem.
As with many things, Covid has put a spanner in the works when it comes to supply chains, which have in some cases been severely disrupted. Sectors most affected have started changing their operations to mitigate the impact. For example, the Wall Street Journal reports that following a year of semiconductor chip shortages due to the impact of the pandemic on tech companies based in Asia, which severely disrupted production, both Ford and General Motors are looking to partner with US-based companies to develop and manufacture the chips they need.
What does that mean for Linpic customers?
Global supply chain problems are ongoing. We too are experiencing delays in receiving some parts as a result. The issue for our clients is that some of these parts are critical and the cost of them not being available can be high.
While we can carry out an inspection on demand, we have always offered service and maintenance contracts, because we believe that’s the best way to ensure smooth operation for clients. Carousels may be crucial elements of production and workflow.
Our maintenance contracts range from basic twelve-month cover to agreements lasting for two, three, four or five years. Depending on the level of cover you opt for, machine failure callouts and parts may also be included. However, we can only repair a machine if we have the parts available, and contracts don’t include a guaranteed supply of parts.
Critical parts
For some clients, as part of an agreement, we keep a stock of critical spares. Say a client has a bank of twenty carousels, one breaks down and spares are not available for weeks, this can badly disrupt production or the operation of the business – or even stop it altogether.
Critical spares package
If you think you would benefit from a critical spares package, get in touch. The spares are stored on your premises and the quantity needed will depend on the type and number of machines you have. For example, if you have five machines and they are all the same type, you will probably need to keep a smaller stock of spares than if you had ten machines and they included three different types. Also, if some parts are specialist, it’s even more important to keep spares on hand. Even in the best of times, lead times for such parts can be long.
We can advise you on what’s critical and should be readily available so that if an engineer visits and repairs need to be undertaken, spares are on hand.
To find out more about service or maintenance contracts and our critical spares package, and how they can benefit you and your business, get in touch. We can talk you through the options and help you decide which best suits your needs.