MAINTENANCE STORE AND INVENTORY CONTROL MANAGEMENT

There are various factors which affects the department ability to control cost. Among these are the age and the condition of the equipment, the skill of the labour force;the amount and the quality of information available to make decision, The size and the value of the store inventory to mention but a few.The inventory is a costly segment of the maintenance department budget, that until recently has not  much attention. In most company any reference to inventory usually implies production, work in progress or finished goods inventory, all of these are recognized as an asset in the general ledger. As an item on the general balance sheet they are continuously scrutinized and managed. Maintenance inventory on the other hand is less dynamic and often tend to be material shelved  to insurance purposes.Typically the maintenance  inventory when purchased is recorded as an expense and rarely shows up as a financial report this occurs despite the fact that its values in some larger plant could be several million dollars, (Ann,1995). In order to manage this inventory effectively, it is necessary to know its content and values.It is equally important to plan department actively similar to the way the production manager anticipate a production schedule. In such condition parts and supply are available when needed and not sitting for months even years before hands.In addition timing is critical when preparing production equipment in order to meet the goal of maximum availability. The maintenance planning system could be a microcosm of the overall business. these should be equivalent to order entry, production and bills. At the same time history records production improvement and cost  reduction programs should be recurring.The cornerstone of any maintenance planning is the work order.It serves as historical records and includes material cost and labour expense.Too often in some country history the work order,upon completion, is discarded or filed and never seen again ,thereby housing valuable information.More importantly the completion of a work order represent accumulated history of a piece of equipment,By analyzing these data, it is possible to anticipate repair practice preventive maintenance and avoid costly lost production potential poor quality.In addition with the many of the new technologies available, equipment can be diagnosed and until failure can be predicated.