Critical Spares
Here at General Kinematics, we design our equipment for 24/7 uptime. Able to endure decades in harsh environments, GK units are known for requiring very little maintenance. With proper upkeep and maintenance, GK components should last years without needing replacements. However, Murphy’s law states that “anything that can go wrong will go wrong,” which can happen at any time. Don’t let one replacement part failure snowball into a full-blown shutdown. Always have critical spare parts on hand to prepare for the worst.
What Are Critical Spares?
Critical spares are parts that are essential to your equipment’s day-to-day function. When these parts break, they will catastrophically disrupt your process, leading to downtime, safety hazards, or expenses.
Having spare parts on hand can seem like an excessive or unwarranted expense; however, much like an insurance policy, it is fiscally responsible. Think of the expense downtime could cause you. If you don’t have the parts on hand, you will be forced to wait for them to be shipped, causing days of downtime, not to mention the additional cost of expedited shipping.
Common critical spares for vibratory equipment:
Benefits of Critical Spares
Increased uptime: If you already have a critical spare readily available, replacement time is shortened, and the amount it takes to restart your machines is faster. Ordering and waiting for the shipment of your critical spare only extends the period of downtime until you can restart your machines.
Lower shipping costs: When the replacement piece is labeled as critical, it can be delivered along with your regular shipment. Off-contract ordering or expedited shipping will only increase your costs for a critical spare when it’s finally necessary.
More efficient use of all resources: When parts listed as “non-critical” are taken out of inventory, carrying costs decline, and warehouse operators will spend less time searching through documents for the critical items and more time on tasks that are a better use of time.
How to Determine Critical Spare Parts
Your operations and maintenance team should analyze which parts are most critical to your operation so you aren’t caught off guard when a replacement is needed. Consider which parts would cause the greatest operational disruption, safety problems, or expenses if they went down. Once you know this, log how frequently parts need replacement so you’re prepared before they need replacement.
General Kinematics is dedicated to providing you with the highest uptime and keeping your equipment running smoothly. This is why each piece of General Kinematics equipment has a list of critical spares in stock. If you want a copy of this Spare Parts List for your GK equipment, contact us, and we will provide you with one!
How To Maintain Your Critical Spares
To avoid these expenses, it is always preferred to have your equipment checked regularly for wear and tear and keep critical spare parts on hand.
- Set up a bi-weekly check-up to look for signs of wear and tear that could lead to a necessary replacement.
- Refer to your GK Spare Parts list to determine what critical spares to keep on hand.
- Track your inventory and usage of critical spares.
- Stick to your plan for maximum uptime!
Remember, the best way to avoid downtime is to see it coming.
GK always keeps a complete inventory of proprietary parts on hand for your convenience. We make equipment you can depend on, but you are the key to a smoothly running operation. As Benjamin Franklin said, “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”
Save the day! Prepare your critical spares.
