Spare Parts and Maintenance Business
The spare parts business begins at the moment of product delivery or, at the latest, when the warranty period ends. Flow always contains information about the customer to whom a product has been sold. This information is found through associations. The product (item) delivered to the customer is linked in Flow to the project under which the sale to the customer was made. The project is linked to the customer. When you find the project, you find the customer, and vice versa.
What Was Delivered to the Customer?
The structure of the product delivered to the customer is detailed in Flow's item structure. Even if a new revision of the item has been made, the information about the revision delivered to the customer remains recorded. In the item structure, parts are automatically replaced with the latest (interchangeable) revisions as new revisions are made. If greater accuracy in customer delivery is needed, Flow's "individual structures" feature can be used. This allows for freezing the structure at the time of delivery. The serial number of the delivered product is also recorded.
Flow can maintain information for each item on whether it is a spare part. A separate spare parts catalog can be generated from Flow's item structure, containing only items marked as spare parts with their drawings. This spare parts catalog is often customized for each customer into the company's own format. It can be delivered to the customer, for example, immediately upon product delivery.
In What Use?
If a component supplier reports a need for part replacement due to a manufacturing defect, the deliveries of the part can be traced in Flow's database. The "In What Use" search for a part (item) produces a list of all assemblies in which the part has been used. With the associated projects, the customers to whom the part was delivered can be identified, and recalls can be arranged as needed.
