The moment of transformation that the industry is experiencing today requires attention. Automation, digitalization and investments in productive capacity are allowing many companies to respond to an increasingly demanding and competitive demand. However, when a plant grows, in addition to increasing its production, so do a series of less visible processes that, if not managed correctly, end up limiting the efficiency of the entire organization.
This is precisely where one of the great paradoxes of today’s industry appears: many companies invest in machinery, technology or new production lines while they continue to dedicate an enormous amount of resources to manually managing thousands of low-value components that are essential for everything to work.
The study «Experiences in implementing Industry 4.0 solutions. Future trends and challenges prepared by CEAM with the support of Bossard, shows that one of the great challenges of digital transformation continues to be the digitalization of logistics, along with the integration of processes, data and people. The report also identifies that many organizations continue to focus their projects solely on technology, without addressing the comprehensive optimization of the supply chain, evidence that confirms that there is still significant room for improvement in the management of the so-called C components.
Growing also means managing more complexity
Increasing production capacity involves much more than manufacturing more units.
Each increase in production usually translates into:
- More component references.
- More internal movements of material.
- Greater daily consumption of parts.
- More pressure on purchases and supply.
- More workload for warehouse and internal logistics.
- Greater risk of stockouts and urgent purchases.
Although these processes represent a relatively small part of the direct cost of the product, they consume a very significant amount of administrative and operational time.
On many occasions, teams spend hours locating parts, placing repetitive orders, managing incidents or reviewing inventory levels. These are tasks that barely appear in traditional financial indicators, but that directly affect the productivity of the plant.
The safety stock paradox
When the risk of stopping a production line increases, many organizations react by increasing inventory. In the short term it may seem like a logical solution. However, this additional stock usually translates into more immobilized capital, more space occupied in the warehouse, less visibility of real consumption and increasingly complex management.
In other words, inventory stops being a guarantee and becomes a hidden cost. True security is ensuring that each component is available exactly when it is needed.
The new priority: availability without overstock
Industrial competitiveness depends on making thousands of small components available in the right place, at the right time and with the necessary information to anticipate any need.
This change in approach forces us to evolve from inventory-based management to data, visibility and planning-based management, that is, having the correct parts with the optimal level of stock.
Organizations that move in this direction manage to reduce emergencies, minimize interruptions and free up resources that can be dedicated to activities with greater added value.
Applied digitization, not cosmetic
Industrial digitalization generates true value when it solves specific day-to-day problems. In C-part management, this means automating repetitive processes, knowing consumption in real time and anticipating needs before incidents appear.
- Automate component replacement.
- Reduce manual purchasing and warehouse tasks.
- Improve material traceability.
- Have reliable information for decision making.
- Free up time for purchasing, production and logistics teams.
Rather than incorporating technology for its own sake, the objective is to simplify processes and eliminate activities that do not contribute direct value to production.
Productivity is also built in the small details
There is a natural tendency to associate industrial competitiveness with large investments in automation or new facilities.
However, a very important part of efficiency is decided in everyday processes that go unnoticed: the availability of a screw, the automatic replacement of a reference, the traceability of a batch or the time an operator spends searching for a component.
At Bossard we work precisely on that often invisible layer of industrial productivity: the intelligent management of components, C-parts and fastening solutions that, although they have low unit value, can have a direct impact on the continuity, efficiency and total cost of the operation.
A very important part of efficiency is decided in daily processes that go unnoticed
Because optimizing these small flows reduces incidents and improves overall productivity, reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO) and helps build much more resilient supply chains.
If you want to delve deeper into how Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) allows you to identify the hidden costs associated with the management of C parts and make better decisions, you can consult the article: «What is TCO (Total Cost of Ownership)?.
