Optimizing Spare Parts Inventory with Low Code and IoT

Using low-code development platforms to create new applications can lead to innovative solutions to old problems, such as better managing spare parts inventory

Fremont, CA: Low-code development platforms enable the creation of a plethora of new types of manufacturing applications. However, perhaps the most significant promise of technology is when it is used to bridge the gap between what has traditionally been the operational and IT realms. There are touchpoints for spare parts inventory in several departments. Maintenance, repair, and operation (MRO) service teams are vested interests. They require extra features to keep the machinery running. However, spare parts inventory management impacts other groups as well.

Making a Low-code Digital Transformation

A series of technological and business advancements have resulted in this point in time when the right solutions can digitally transform spare parts inventory.

For many years, manufacturers relied on vendor-supplied information about a part's or piece of equipment's lifetime and repair history to perform calendar-based maintenance. Inspections, service, and part replacement would be planned by MRO groups based on mean time to failure (MTTF) and end-of-life data. The device vendor's replacement schedule was used to order spare parts.

There are two flaws in this strategy. One question is, what happens if a part fails or stops working sooner than the MTTF estimate provided by the part vendor? The other question is, what if the part has more life in it than the end-of-life estimate suggests? The traditional approach to both situations was to stock up on spare parts in an unexpected failure. And replace parts according to the vendor's schedule, even if they continue to function correctly.

Such a simple solution addressed immediate issues, but at a cost. Overstocking causes the following problems:

• More storage space is required, which is scarce in many manufacturing environments.

• As vendors update their product lines, parts may become obsolete.

• Money spent on storing spare parts could be put to better use.

Simply put, more can be done to improve the situation. Manufacturers have been shifting away from traditional calendar-based maintenance by utilizing IoT data from equipment in their plants. They can use low-code development platforms to take that data and create applications that complement and enhance the capabilities of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and other OT systems.

Manufacturers, in particular, have transitioned from a fix-it-when-it-breaks mode of operation to reactive, proactive, and predictive/preventive modes.

IoT data about a device's status and OT system data, such as alerts and alarms, may be combined to trigger an MRO action in a reactive mode. For example, suppose a custom-developed MRO service application detects that a specific part is operating above the vendor's recommended peak operational temperature. In that case, it could automate the generation of a trouble ticket and service call.