By using non-OEM parts, you are shortsightedly cutting the critical cord that exists between the OEM and your supply chain. As a result, your OEM loses helpful insight regarding your inventories and parts needs, thereby harming their unique ability to help you predict and meet the long-term requirements of your parts supply chain.
Increased safety incident risk
OEM parts are designed for the highest reliability and safety. While buying inferior quality non-OEM parts may initially save you short-term costs at the time of purchase, they can have far greater negative impacts – and costs – for your people and facilities in the slightly longer term.
Wrong or incompatible parts arrive
With today’s digitally-linked systems, OEMs can easily send updates about new part modifications, availability and compatibility to ensure superior equipment performance and top-level lifecycle support. In addition, Critical Engineering Change Notices (ECNs), Firmware Updates and Revisions can only come from the OEM. Non-OEM suppliers often lack the tools and access, not to mention the interest and resources, to provide this level of service. This lack of service is hard to appreciate until a critical “wrong update or incompatible spare parts” situation arises – causing extended troubleshooting and costly additional downtime.
Looks can be very deceiving
Surplus parts suppliers will often advertise an item as “new”, but this is an impossibility as they are not part of the authorized supply chain. Thus, it is not new, but has been resold at some point and you can’t determine the path this part has taken. How long ago was it made and sold? Who actually made it? How was it stored and handled? Have all of the ECNs and updates been performed and tested? There are too many unanswered questions surrounding parts like this to justify any savings.
The whole is, quite literally, greater than the sum of its parts
Relying on inferior quality parts in any process, system or plant equipment can have far reaching and unanticipated impacts on the overall facility. As the famous saying states, The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Don’t risk the whole process – and your production quality and reliability – by using substandard parts anywhere in your plant.