In the dynamic realm of hydraulic systems, efficiency reigns supreme. Optimizing operations translates into enhanced productivity, cost savings, and reduced downtime. A crucial aspect of streamlining processes is effectively managing hose and fitting inventory. Businesses can ensure seamless workflow and unwavering equipment performance by implementing strategic inventory management practices.
Organize Your Inventory
Effective Parker hose & fitting inventory Charlotte, NC, management entails maintaining an organized, up-to-date inventory system, establishing clear reorder points, and conducting regular audits. These practices work in tandem to prevent stockouts, minimize delays, and optimize resource allocation. Hose and fittings must be organized to make it easy for employees to find them. It’s important to manage them by type, size and hose assembly. This will help reduce mistakes and save time when assembling replacement hoses. Organizing the inventory also helps prevent mixing hoses and fittings from different manufacturers. This common problem can result in costly hose failures due to incorrect pairing. A great way to manage Parker hose and fitting inventory is through a vendor-managed inventory program. By eliminating the need for ordering and reordering, these programs also allow companies to reduce inventory by up to 40%. By doing so, they avoid costly stockouts and lost revenue.
Keep It in Stock Bins
Often, even small differences in hose length can affect the operation and safety of the finished hose assembly. Incorrect hose and fitting pairings can cause flow restriction or even system failure. This can result in costly downtime, equipment/roll damage or customer dissatisfaction. Properly matching hose and fitting pairings will reduce maintenance, downtime and repair costs. Proper selection of hose material, working temperature range, and rated pressures will help ensure proper functionality in the application and improve ROI. Choosing the right ERP software built with those distributors will make this process easier.
Keep It Organized
Hydraulic hose failures can cause downtime in production, so a hose fabricator needs replacement hoses in stock when needed. This can reduce the cost of purchasing, resupplying, dunnage and shipping expenses. Using the correct hose and fitting pair is critical for safety reasons, as incompatible and appropriate combinations can lead to leaking or catastrophic failures. Keeping the inventory organized helps reduce errors by ensuring that the correct hose and fittings are assembled and used in each assembly. The best way to keep a large stocking and fitting inventory organized is with a vendor-managed inventory program. This eliminates stockouts and saves inventory costs, freeing up cash for investment in other business areas. An ERP system built with hose distributors and fabricators in mind can also help to streamline this process. The software is designed to work with a wide range of fluid power, industrial hose, pump, sealing and instrumentation distribution companies.
Keep It Up to Date
Whether at the time of a sale or during service work, always make sure to keep hose identifier tags current and correct. Also, pre-pipe each hose roll to the proper pipe/tube and double-check that the hose/tube connection points are the same. This helps reduce piping errors and ensures proper hose assembly. The right hose inventory is critical to your business, especially as hydraulic hose failures account for 35 to 65 percent of equipment downtime. Keeping your list up-to-date with the latest models can minimize maintenance costs, avoid costly repairs and increase uptime. Additionally, the program allows for more reorders with shortened lead times.
Danny Williams 
