MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations) plays a major role in the uptime, productivity and, ultimately, profitability of every manufacturing organization. Without effective MRO management and practices, downtime will increase, maintenance processes are disorganized, and overall costs can quickly spiral beyond budget.
Procurement is a key component of effective MRO — in many ways — forming the backbone of an MRO strategy. Industrial procurement goes beyond simply ordering parts (although that function plays an important role that is not as simple as it may seem).
Today’s best procurement strategies involve advanced technology, data analysis, collaboration, communication, relationship management and more. These strategies are critical in developing a reliable, cost-effective plan — one that helps to ensure MRO parts are on hand when needed, are easily located, are part of an intuitive overall maintenance function, and are procured cost-effectively.
Without these strategies in place, your business is not operating as well as it could be, and is likely losing ground to competitors. This piece will look at how to develop a reliable, economical strategic sourcing process — applicable to direct spend and indirect procurement strategies.