Knowing which spare parts to keep handy for a technician dealing with compressor repair can be a tricky decision. Many service personnel make it a matter of policy to only order parts as needed. Others want to make sure, either by necessity or by design, to have a set of common repair parts in their toolkit. They may do this because:
- They want to provide a higher level of service by eliminating the turn-around time of ordering parts.
- They want to save the costs of a return visit between the time they diagnose the problem and the time the parts arrive.
- Return visits may be prohibitive due to remote locations.
How to Choose Compressor Spare Parts to Stockpile
Technicians choose the parts they order in advance in several ways:
- Choose low-cost parts to avoid the costs of inventory
- Choose parts that are the most common points of failure and are therefore the most likely to be used.
- Choose parts that will not become obsolete in the near future, to avoid having white elephants in the inventory.
Many technicians take advantage of their years of experience to determine which parts to keep handy. Certainly, these criteria justify keeping a supply of the most popular valve springs and a generous set of gaskets and seal materials.
Can a Technician Rely on JIT Parts Ordering?
In spite of the wisdom of keeping a few parts available for quick fixes, many technicians still operate on a just-in-time parts ordering system. Many of these work with clients that understand that compressors are advanced systems that do not come off the shelf from local home supply stores, and accept the delay in parts ordering as a matter of course. This strategy can also work well with the efficient parts delivery systems of compressor spare parts suppliers that offer online ordering and one-day drop shipping to the site. Even remote-service technicians can often afford to stay on site while the parts arrive. Advanced shipping from suppliers has made service calls more customer-centric than ever.
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