Conducted over nine months with input from diverse industries and personnel, the study was designed to assess the current condition of MRO storeroom operations.

"In the U.S. alone more than $500bn annually is spent on MRO spare parts and services," said Michael Weinberg, vice president of sales and marketing for Storeroom Solutions, which provides MRO/indirect materials management services in North America. "A tremendous amount of time and resources are consumed managing that spend in order to maintain production reliability and maintenance effectiveness. This survey confirmed much of what we already knew about how companies are managing MRO, and exposed some new trends as well."

Among the survey's key findings:

• More than half of those surveyed indicated the state of their MRO/indirect materials storeroom frequently causes reliability issues or downtime at their plants

• Little to no communication exists between the storeroom, purchasing and the rest of the company

• Most companies surveyed don't have the visibility across the supply chain to see how their inventory is moving

"The survey clearly shows that while some companies are becoming more sophisticated in managing the MRO supply chain, most are lagging in the adoption of new processes – whether that comes via internal resources or third-party management," Weinberg said.

Respondents had responsibility spanning purchasing/procurement, operations, and information technology with titles from maintenance managers to chief financial officers, from buyers to vice presidents of purchasing. The companies ranged in size from under 100 employees to more than 1,000.

Source: Storeroom Solutions Inc.