How Site-Specific Record-Keeping Streamlines Purchasing
At large industrial facilities like oil refineries, the maintenance cycle seems to repeat the same challenges over and over. Every few years, planning contractors have a scant six weeks to determine which new components are needed, create work orders to send to purchasing, receive a quote and estimate, and complete a purchase order. Once the new components arrive, it’s a race to complete the cleaning and changeover process before the shutdown window closes and the whole process creeps over-budget.
Challenges with the Maintenance Ordering Process
In many cases, lack of clear documentation for gaskets and other components leaves planners digging through incomplete files and taking their best guess at what to re-order. Without proper documentation, it’s inevitable that ordering errors will occur — and these errors often aren’t caught until maintenance personnel are trying to bolt up the new components. With an average of about six weeks to complete a changeover, any delay comes at a heavy cost.
Frequent turnover of planning contractors from one shutdown to the next makes it all too easy for poorly-documented information to slip through the cracks. Even if the same planners are contracted over multiple maintenance cycles, it is rare for individual personnel to be the same. This leads to the same purchasing errors occurring again and again, which leads to a pattern of extra downtime and cost due to immediate delays, as well as future leaks and unplanned shutdowns due to errors that weren’t caught in time.
Key Solutions to Improve Maintenance Ordering
At Lamons, our goal is to create a partnership with our customers to help them save on labor costs and repetitive tasks, so we’ve simplified maintenance ordering in several different ways. To streamline the process, our site-specific online tools (Drawings Online and E-Catalog) make it easy to re-order components from previous maintenance cycles. These tools also offer the unique feature of site-specific documentation, making it possible to keep track of the components needed at any specific facility of any size. These features streamline ordering by eliminating the need for a quote and estimate — it’s easy for customers to submit an order, and we can immediately start the process of manufacturing and shipment.
Drawings Online
Drawings Online allows customers to keep accurate reference drawings or dimensions online and organize those detailed product requirements into a consolidated repository that is specific to an individual location.
Drawings Online is designed to be easy to edit and easy to search. Product specifications are editable to allow customers to update records at any time, so purchasing errors don’t get repeated from one Maintenance T.A. to the next. A detailed approvals process for required specification changes provides guardrails to make sure changes don’t cause new errors.
The tool is also built with concise search structures, so planners can easily access all the information they need in one place. Each part number in a customer’s repository is recorded for ease of searchability.
E-Catalog
E-Catalog provides seamless interface integration of a customer’s MRP, ERP, and EDI systems. With this tool, customers can access site-specific punchout catalogs unique to a specific location, negotiated contract, and technical requirements. Detailed search features make it possible to navigate an unlimited number of catalog items.
These features provide additional visibility for planners:
- Quickly request, mail, export and print quotations
- See stock on hand from single or multiple locations
- Save carts for reference to simplify future purchasing
- See accurate information loaded for Roundtrip and PunchOut applications
Through accuracy, integration, and historic data, E-Catalog saves customers valuable time and money by reducing errors and preventing tasks being done twice.
Get Support from an Experienced Manufacturing Partner
Site-specific record-keeping and documentation of past orders are essential to reduce the risk of purchasing errors during a maintenance cycle. With the help of our value-added online tools, Lamons is dedicated to helping our customers run their operations leak-free from startup to shutdown — cycle after cycle.
