How much spare piping, valves, and other basic materials should a completely new project have on hand?
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Our factory is a completely new project that produces pesticide intermediates. Equipment installation and piping work are scheduled for around June, with trial operations to take place in October. Now it’s time to purchase materials such as pipes and valves. In addition to the materials required for the production process, how much spare material for pipes and valves should we prepare? I would appreciate some advice from those who have experience in factory production; thank you all in advance.
Add a 10% surplus for the most commonly used items; for the others, use 3-5%
There is no fixed rule regarding how many spare valves to keep! Generally, it’s sufficient to purchase 2-3 extra units for each specification. Those that are easy to obtain or have a short procurement lead time should be stocked in small quantities or not at all, while those with a long procurement lead time require storage； Less storage is needed for items with broad applicability, while storage is required for single varieties... In short, the inventory level in the warehouse should be reduced as much as possible, since it consumes a large amount of working capital! For reference only: Previously, we allocated a surplus quantity for valve procurement as 10% for valves under 2'', with a minimum of 1 unit; 5% for valves ranging from 2'' to 6'', also with a minimum of 1 unit. For valves larger than 6'', no surplus was required. For new projects, it is also necessary to take into account the surplus quantity needed for valves’ spare parts and wear-prone components over a period of two years. This post was last edited by flyyi61 on 2009-2-26 at 10:59
For general construction piping and valves, our company has fixed suppliers. Generally, it’s delivered within half a day after a phone call. It mainly depends on whether the procurement process within your company is smooth enough! It’s not too late to give the parts list to the procurement department when preparing the construction plan. There’s no need to prepare spare parts for a project.
First, verify all the materials for the entire project to determine the quantity of materials. Pipes or pipe fittings can have a 5-10% surplus, but valves should not. It also depends on your company’s purchasing capacity; if purchases are made in a timely manner, there is no need to order an excess amount of piping, which helps to minimize any surplus materials.
Under the budget in the process flow diagram, after on-site inspection, add some more
Based on the difficulty of obtaining materials in the market, procurement cycles that are long should be calculated accurately, with an appropriate margin left； For expensive materials, as well as large-diameter pipes, valves, and fittings, accurate calculations should be made, leaving as little margin as possible ； For general-purpose, easily available materials, there should be no reservations at all; the market should be treated as one’s own warehouse, available for use at any time.
Act according to your capabilities: keep a smaller stock of ordinary pipes, as they can be purchased quickly when needed. For special pipes, it’s necessary to have at least 1 to 2 sets on hand, otherwise any issues that arise during production in the workshop will delay operations due to the difficulty of replacing them
Act according to your capabilities: keep a smaller stock of ordinary pipes, as they can be purchased quickly when needed. For special pipes, it’s necessary to have at least 1 to 2 sets on hand, otherwise any issues that arise during production in the workshop will delay operations due to the difficulty of replacing them