Do you have any idea how high your parts costs actually are?
CADENAS survey shows how high life-cycle costs are for components in companies
Every newly created part causes extensive costs during a complete life cycle that go far beyond the mere costs for creating data. In a survey among 70,000 engineers, CADENAS found out how high companies estimate life cycle costs (creating data, warehousing, fixed capital, end-of-life replacement, etc.) for components.
The biggest part of the respondents, that is to say 88 %, think that costs between 501 € and 5,000 € per part occur. 5 % of the respondents even assume that costs of more than 10,000 € could arise per component. However, the amount of costs per part depends on whether companies are involved in equipment or production design.
Estimates of the respondents correspond with the average parts cost that leading companies such as BOMAG and MAN have determined in practice. There are also different impacts, depending on the sector.
How can costs already be avoided or reduced in the development stages?
High part costs have a negative effect on the profitability and competitiveness of industrial companies. The biggest saving potential does not lie in the purchase price as often wrongly assumed, but already in the product development process. Three simple tricks show you where to start reducing costs, without having to be worried about negative impacts on product quality.
1. Optimize the reuse rate of already existing components
Components already used in products can be reused for designs of new products. This way you keep parts multiplicity small and save considerably in process costs, e.g. for creating and maintaining data, but also in procurement, due to fewer orders in smaller batches. The best approach is a defined release process for a controlled creation of new parts, made possible with PARTsolutions. This way, it is ensured that only necessary components get into the parts database.
2. Use intelligent search methods and don’t waste time
He who seeks shall find. Often parts are not reused because they cannot be found in the parts database. The multitude of intelligent search methods the Strategic Parts Management PARTsolutions offers, such as 2D Sketch Search or 3D Geometric Similarity Search, saves the engineer’s time and nerves.
Also, if for example the explicit designation is unfamiliar or a colleague made a mistake when creating the data file, existing components can still be easily found. The creating of unnecessary parts can also be significantly reduced.
3. Consolidate the already existing parts world and clean up duplicate copies
If your parts master data has already become a confusing jungle of parts with component files that are incorrect or created two times, it is time to clean up. Otherwise, more and more data will have to be maintained and kept up-to-date. The Strategic Parts Management PARTsolutions helps you to easily identify duplicate copies, thus creating the basis for cleaning up your parts master.
Take a look at the PARTsolutions brochure
For further tips please look here into our new PARTsolutions brochure. If you would like to reduce your parts costs, our consultants will be at your service under Marketing@cadenas.de or +49 821 2 58 58 0-0.