Parts management strategies to mitigate operational risks

Whether you’re talking about electronic or moving parts, when parts fail you have the risk of downtime. So it’s important to make sure you have a plan for when a component fails. You should know ahead of time how long the downtime will be, and which spare parts you need to have on hand.

Exactly how you plan your spare parts strategy isn’t a “one size fits all” answer. For example, if you have a peaker plant where downtime is acceptable, your spare parts needs are going to be different from a process-critical application where the whole plant’s going to be down and losing money by the hour. But in all cases you will want to be in control of when that downtime happens and have the spare parts available to mitigate the situation.

There are several different approaches:

The classic approach:
This is where you have spare parts at each site. The benefit of this approach is that you’ll have the least downtime, since those components will be immediately available. The disadvantage of this approach is that it can be expensive for every site to buy components that they may or may not use. In addition, when you buy those components up front, the clock starts on the warranty, so depending on when you start using the part, you might not get to reap the benefits of that warranty. Depending on where your site is located, there could be tax implications on storing those components year after year. Bottom line, the classic approach is the fastest way of getting the spare parts you need.

In support of the classic approach, we have a new offering called Lifecycle Review, which is a proactive way to help minimize risk, especially for customers that don’t know what parts they should be buying. We can perform a review of the hardware you have onsite, identify any gaps, and recommend spare parts you should have in your inventory. As part of that review, we will also advise if any parts inventory have become obsolete and recommend the latest ones. Alternately, the customer can provide us with a list of their inventory, and we can give them a list of spare parts they’re missing.

Centralized storage:
If you have multiple sites within the same country, centralized spares storage is a good approach to get components within a few days. With centralized storage you get the efficiencies of having multiple parts at a single storage site within the country for quick dispatching. This is more efficient and much faster than shipping components internationally, where customs can create delays.

Vendor managed inventory:
This is where a vendor maintains inventory on your behalf, so you only buy what you need when you need it—and you don't have to worry about a warranty period that you won’t be able to use. However, with vendor managed inventory, the lead time to get a part will be longer because that component might not be at your site, or even in your country. But this is a great solution when you can afford to wait a week or two for your parts. In short, this option provides lower upfront costs, retains the warranty, and allows you to mitigate your risk by minimizing downtime.

Efficient management of spare parts and inventory is critical for reducing operational costs, minimizing downtime, and enhancing overall productivity. The PartSmart program provides a comprehensive vendor-managed inventory solution, taking the burden of inventory oversight off your shoulders. With this program, parts are strategically sourced and stocked based on your unique operational needs, ensuring that critical components are always available when you need them most, without the substantial upfront investment and overhead costs associated with conventional spare parts storage.

By leveraging the PartSmart program, your business benefits from a streamlined supply chain that reduces the risks of stock obsolescence and excess inventory. This approach not only optimizes your spare parts inventory but also ensures better utilization of warranties, allowing you to maximize cost savings throughout the equipment lifecycle. With a focus on reliability and efficiency, PartSmart empowers your operations to maintain peak performance without the hassle of managing spare parts logistics.

As your control system and parts start to age, you might not be able to replace them with brand new parts. However, you can still get the components you need remanufactured or repaired. For non-new electronics, we offer customers options that will work for different price points, risk levels, and lead times, including:

Remanufactured cards:
This is our option with the fastest lead time and uses a stock of cards to provide you with a replacement that has been fully tested and backed by our warranty.

Repaired cards:
With this option you can send us your broken card, and we’ll repair it and send it back you. Card repairs are completed using the original test fixtures from the factory to ensure best-in-class workmanship. We stand behind our repairs with an 24-month warranty for remanufactured and repaired cards, 6 months longer than the warranty for new cards! The lead time is a little longer than the others—but it also costs a little less than remanufactured cards.

Exchange cards:
With an exchange, customers can send us their failed card and we’ll ship a remanufactured card. Because we’re getting a card back from the customer, this option costs the least.

Testing and certification:
In addition to replacements, GE Vernova can test your existing cards tested to make sure they are working properly. This service can be helpful for customers can that have followed the classic approach and have had components sitting on their shelf for a long time.

Quality:
Is the company you’re working with tied in with the original equipment manufacturer? Do they have the same testing equipment that the cards were built on? If the parts were manufactured or repaired in the U.S., was it an ISO 9001-certified facility, which follows a basic level of quality standards? And finally, do their testing technicians have standardized certifications that they’re working to, like IPC610 standards for workmanship?

The age of the card: 
You should know the age of the core card you’re receiving, and how it was obtained. Has it been sitting around for years, or even decades? In older components there are things like electrolytic capacitors and batteries that can go bad over time, even if the component was just sitting on the shelf. Does the vendor replace them on every repair, and where do they leave them if they test “good” at that moment?

Card revision: 
It's important to know whether your card is getting the exact revision level that it originally had, or if it's getting an updated version.

Cybersecurity: 
It’s getting more and more important to protect your electronics and network from bad actors. We have one offering called critical digital assets (CDA), which helps ensure that electronics don’t have anything malicious on them before they are received at your site. Our CDA offering/process takes cards into our cyber secure location, where they are under control, and completely rewrite the firmware with a known, good version. We then package the box with tamper-evident tape and supply the customer with the numbers that appear on that box to make sure it hasn’t been opened between our facility and the end user’s facility. This goes back again to cost versus risk: These extra steps take additional effort on our side, so there is a premium charge for it.

The value of OEM expertise:
You’re always going to get the best possible quality from GE Vernova due to our GE legacy and the fact that we're an official distributor for authentic Woodward parts. Our deep knowledge base is key: We have more than a century of experience and a team of experts that have been with us long enough to know the older technologies as well as the new.