MRO (Maintenance, Repairs & Operations) in Manufacturing

MRO

MRO is the acronym for Maintenance, Repairs, and Operations and is one of the most crucial production areas in manufacturing industries. It includes all the resources utilized in manufacturing a certain product but not a part of the finished product. MRO covers all the expenditures required for ensuring normal operations with the help of efficiently working industrial machinery and components and the availability of maintenance supplies and repair tools.

Optimal performance of all the components and systems involved in the production process is essential to ascertain improvement and efficiency at every stage. With the effective implementation of MRO, various organizations and industries can reduce the associated costs by streamlining and ensuring proper maintenance of all operations, which helps them gain a competitive edge as well.

This guide explains the different types of MRO and their advantages. It also provides information about MRO inventory and the role of MRO in purchasing.

Different Types of MRO

Different manufacturing areas and stages are covered under MRO, such as:

Consumables & Tools

In this type of MRO, equipment and tools are involved, which are utilized for performing inspections, repairs, maintenance, Quality Control, and all other relevant processes. These processes are not part of the direct production process but are valuable for ensuring efficiency and guaranteed quality at each stage of production.

Infrastructure

The MRO covers the cost of operating a facility and maintaining its optimal working order. It includes all the costs related to general cleaning, grounds maintenance, and other utilities essential for a manufacturing facility.

Material Handling

For material handling, MRO involves the cost required for the continuous operation of equipment, which helps move various components and parts from one facility area to another. This movement of parts or components can be from one phase to another between the production stations. In this way, MRO contributes to ensuring the deliverable condition of production from the production line to the receiving station.

Production

The costs related to the operation and maintenance of vital production equipment also fall under the MRO. This is crucial for directing and facilitating the production of the final product. Under this category, MRO covers the costs required for predictive maintenance, preventive maintenance, spare parts inventory management, etc.

Advantages of MRO

An effectively designed MRO strategy can prove helpful in the efficient management of various aspects of the manufacturing industry with several benefits, such as:

Efficient Usage of Resources

When all processes are optimized and streamlined, the overall time required for accomplishing the least important tasks is reduced. In this way, management teams can spend more time on high-value tasks such as continuous monitoring and analyzing the maintenance requirements for different equipment and machines to ensure operational continuity.

Optimized & Streamlined Inventory

The MRO helps to examine the overall requirements of an organization across various business units and departments to make all the processes efficient. It is done by developing an effective strategy to centralize all the processes that lead towards reducing the overall costs associated with various manufacturing processes.

Reduced Expenses

MRO involves condition, inventory, and performance management and delivers real-time insights by using connected technology and industrial sensors for guaranteeing the maintenance and replacement, when required. This approach helps in addressing the inefficient operations and resolving the issues timely for saving the associated costs and reducing the overall expenses.

MRO Inventory

The MRO inventory costs cover all the expenses required for components, equipment, and parts crucial for an organization's maintenance, repair, and operational process. This category also includes the cost of safety equipment, spare parts, and other essential tools. In short, all the costs of those components are covered under this category, which is not part of the final product.

It is important to develop an efficient strategy to avoid issues such as decentralized controls and management practices, inconsistent tracking, redundant purchases, and missed opportunities to purchase at scale. However, a well-organized strategy can make a significant contribution to enhancing the quality of the manufactured parts.

Organizations and industries can develop an effective MRO inventory strategy by auditing the persisting conditions and requirements across various departments, identifying the current inventory status, and establishing an efficient management process across the entire business.

MRO in Purchasing

It covers the indirect costs or expenditures involved in a business that are not a direct part of the product output. All these costs are collectively significant and require proper examination and optimization. These costs help in revealing those areas of manufacturing and production processes that need to be reviewed and improved. Developing a strategic approach for overall MRO is important for organizations to manage costs and negotiate prices to get a favourable supplier relationship scheme.

To apply MRO in purchasing, industries must bring major changes in various processes, such as continuous improvement, performance monitoring, process automation, etc. The industries may also need to install new and advanced quality equipment, such as connectivity equipment, industrial sensors, etc, to optimize all the production stages. The upfront cost of doing all this may seem high, but when you conduct a cost-benefit analysis, it becomes evident that it is a cost-effective decision that will provide value for your money in the long run.