NextGen Supply Chain Interview: Mike Weinberg

This month we spoke with Mike Weinberg, senior vice president of corporate development and chief marketing office for Synovos (https://synovos.com/). In addition to running his own sales and marketing strategy consultancy for several years, Weinberg was formerly at W.W. Grainger.

NextGen Supply Chain: Where do technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things fit into MRO these days?

Weinberg: We are only in the early stages for those and many other advanced technologies. Until recently, MRO has been stagnant when it comes to new technology. Except for the Web and online marketplaces, in fact, there's been little going on. But change your question and ask about the potential for all three of the technologies you mentioned, and my answer becomes quite different. In fact, the potential here is enormous.

To start, data is critical to asset life cycle management. It allows companies to think differently about their assets when they use some form of condition monitoring device to collect data such as hours of operation, vibration levels and temperature to name a few data points. Companies can then begin to better manage maintenance to maximize asset life cycles. By tying this information in with maintenance planning and an integrated storeroom operation, companies will advance their maintenance and supply chain operations rapidly.

NextGen Supply Chain: It sounds as if the core going forward is data.

Weinberg: That's absolutely right. Data, big or otherwise, is the core of MRO efficiencies in the future. Just to clarify, we aren't necessarily talking about terabytes of data. Not all data is good data. We have to collect and manage the right data. That's the lynchpin to a successful MRO program and one of the building blocks to more effective maintenance planning and scheduling.

NextGen Supply Chain: What do companies need to do to build toward this?

Weinberg: The first thing companies need to do is develop a complete list or hierarchy of their assets. Probably 70% of companies don't even have that list in place. Most kind of know what they have but have not associated their asset hierarchy with the parts needed to maintain their assets. Not only don't they have basic information, but they haven't identified the critical spare parts for each asset or identified the appropriate inventory levels required to maintain the asset. That has to become standardized to start.

But there's a critical step even before that. Each company needs to build a plan to manage MRO data across the organization. Do that and you will be way ahead of the game. Then that plan needs to become part of standard operating procedure. Just start with building a hierarchy of all assets. And just as important, have someone with maintenance knowledge identify the the parts and criticality of the parts associated with the assets.

Once this is completed you are on your way to having a well-structured bill of materials that can be tracked and leveraged for more effective maintenance planning and scheduling. Someone with parts knowledge and equipment knowledge is essential here.

NextGen Supply Chain: What comes after the basic list?

Weinberg: To start, associate parts data to individual assets by location in a facility and that facility within the company's network of facilities. In other words, build an asset hierarchy based on the criticality of each asset to output, however that is measured.

NextGen Supply Chain: Where do spare parts fit into this?

Weinberg: What those parts are called and their location in each facility need to be part of the data base. A standardized and consistent approach to handling parts information is critical to supply chain performance. Is a specific part on a shelf or is it available from a local source? Or are parts ordered from a supplier with long lead times for delivery? It's all part of knowing what you have and how you will deal with a planned event or a disruption.

Just to use a made-up scenario, what do you do if a press needs rebuilding after 500 hours of operation? Using condition monitoring devices, the 400-hour milestone should trigger a preventive maintenance event. Maintenance is scheduled, parts are identified, pulled from inventory if they are available, ordered if they are not available, kitted and staged, so the repair work is performed as planned. And if everything goes right, that maintenance is done when it is least disruptive to production or the operation of the company.

At this point, a company is using condition monitoring devices or some manual process to collect data, track the condition of machines and initiate maintenance with full knowledge of the parts and their location to complete the work.

NextGen Supply Chain: In the overview piece this month, we talk about predictive maintenance. What you just described sounds a lot like that.

Weinberg: Oh, it is a lot like that, albeit only a part of predictive maintenance. But that is the next generation. As I said earlier, it all comes back to data. Have that and you are well on your way to accelerating your MRO operation.

NextGen Supply Chain: Do you have any final words of advice for people as they make this transition?

Weinberg: It only takes a single, simple concept to go from where 70% of companies are today to the future with advanced technologies. It takes a lot of thinking to get started. And it's easy to make it all very complicated. Don't do that. If your MRO program is to be effective, think simple and elegant, not complicated.

Gary Forger is the special projects editor for Supply Chain Management Review. He can be reached at [email protected].

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