Anyone know what happens to dealer spare parts when they become uneconomical to keep?
I know what happens at an importer. When the computer jockey with the crisp white shirt and the filofax who was the UK parts manager decided that parts that have been in stock too long, the parts get thrown in a skip and scrapped.
For my sins, for some years I had to manage and track some millions of £ worth of inventory of parts for turbochargers, crankshaft dampers etc. There were targets for 'inventory turns per annum' which effectively meant there was always keen interest in the value of inventory, how fast it moved and whether we had the right stuff.
Obsolescence was a nightmare, 9 times out of 10 when we threw some 'obsolete' parts away, the following week some customer would order the damned things. We once actually retrieved some turbine housing castings from our scrap merchant shortly after sending them there.
Our policy was to hold spares for automotive applications for 10 years, but anything originally used for military or marine engines we kept spares for 20 years.
Financial changes may mean that no longer applies (been retired 10 years now)
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