Capital Equipment News August 2021

TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP

IPD parts for a CAT C15 industrial engine.

Quality parts vital in balancing cost and availability

For any business whose profitability depends on the availability of its equipment, the mandates given to operations on the one hand and procurement on the other are vital for success. Capital Equipment News spoke to Kim Fox at IPD Parts SA about how total cost of ownership can be improved with the right approach to aftermarket sourcing.

have discovered. “Well-managed businesses are those whose leadership sees the big picture,” says Fox. “This approach focuses on the cost of a machine’s ownership over its whole life cycle – as a function of what it contributes to the company’s bottom line.” She emphasises that productive assets are the lifeblood of project fulfilment, customer satisfaction and long-term brand building – those basic pillars upon which great businesses are built. In this context, unscheduled breakdowns are poison to the enterprise, undermining everything that good strategy tries to achieve. Living many lives “Ensuring availability and productivity of these assets means quality maintenance

“Driving down the total cost of ownership is a team effort, and everyone needs to be pulling in the same direction with an eye on the long term – rather than only prioritising daily savings in the here and now. Fortunately, when it comes to sourcing quality parts, there is a solution that suits both the operational demands and the cost pressures that most businesses face.”

Kim Fox of IPD Parts SA

TALKING POINT

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS AUGUST 2021 12 I t is certainly no secret that most equipment-owning companies struggle to balance the needs of ef- ficient operation and cost effective procurement. This may even lead

to the occasional tension between what the operations manager wants and what the procurement manager is prepared to purchase. There is a constructive way through this, however, as many companies