Thousands of parts. Any one can stop a shipment.
Industrial component makers manage thousands of low-volume SKUs with long, variable lead times. WERISCO separates the parts that matter from the long tail, and watches the ones that can block a shipment.
Components · Long lead times · BOM depth · Supplier dependencies · Production schedules
How the chain actually behaves
High-mix, low-volume businesses carry huge part counts with intermittent demand. Classical forecasting struggles, safety stock rules are copied across items that behave nothing alike, and a single $4 fastener can hold up a $40K assembly. Aftermarket spare-parts demand adds a second, even lumpier stream.
- 01
Intermittent demand
Many SKUs sell a few times a year; averages mislead.
- 02
Long-tail excess
Slow movers accumulate across thousands of part numbers.
- 03
Cheap part, expensive stop
Low-value components blocking high-value assemblies.
- 04
Aftermarket service
Spare-parts commitments with contractual response times.
From long-tail review to a cleaner stock position
- Step 01
WERISCO reads stock, target levels and usage for 9,400 SKUs
- Step 02
Lists items held above target, with the value above target item by item
- Step 03
Lists 86 parts below reorder point, shortest cover first
- Step 04
Shows where reorder points were set for lead times suppliers no longer quote
- Step 05
Inventory manager decides what to stop and what to buffer
hydraulic valve maker
$120M revenue, 9,400 SKUs, 60% of revenue from 8% of SKUs.
- 01Forging supplier lead time drifts to 16 weeks
- 02Valve body stock covers 5 weeks
- 033 OEM framework orders depend on it
- 04Line-side shortage in week 47
Place bridging order now, add second forging source, raise buffer to 8 weeks.
- Fill rate by criticality class
- Service where it matters, not on average.
- Excess & obsolete value
- The long tail's hidden cost.
- Lead-time variance
- Drives buffer size more than average lead time.
- Shipment blocked by shortage
- Revenue delayed by a missing part.
- Castings and forgings with 12+ week lead times
- Obsolescence after engineering changes
- Spare-parts availability commitments
- Raw-material surcharges (steel, aluminum)
Signals · Demand intermittency · Criticality class · BOM where-used · Engineering change status
Supply chain audit
See where your supply chain is exposed.
A 20-minute call and two file exports: stock by item and open orders. You see the inventory and order value exposed. No integration, no savings estimate, and an NDA if you need one.