Procuring Spare Parts: From Technician's Request to Stock

In small workshops, procuring spare parts often looks like a to-do list “in one’s head” or on sticky notes. A technician calls a supplier, orders something, but forgets to tell the receptionist that a part is on its way. The result is predictable: the part arrives, but no one knows which order it is for, and the customer waits for another unnecessary week.

Procurement is just as much of a business process as the repair itself. It has an executor, a deadline, and a result. If the process is chaotic, it needs to be moved into a ticket system.

How a Procurement Task Arises

A part’s journey begins not with a call to a supplier, but with diagnostics. When a technician realizes that a spare part is not in stock, they add it to “Components” for the order.

At that moment, the system automatically creates a procurement ticket. A new line appears in the “Procurement: All Tasks” panel with the status “Requires purchaser assignment.” This is the key moment: the task has not been left hanging in the air; it has been recorded in the general list. Now, it cannot be “forgotten” or lost.

Assigning an Executor

As long as a ticket has no executor, procurement won’t move forward. A manager, reviewing the procurement panel, assigns a responsible purchaser.

From that moment on, the purchaser sees their area of responsibility:

Which specific part needs to be bought (according to the Parts Directory).
Which order it is for (order number is indicated in the ticket).
Device model (information is pulled from the directory).

Working with a Supplier

When a purchaser takes a ticket, they select a counterparty from the Suppliers directory. This is important not just for the purchase itself, but for analytics: later, you will be able to see which suppliers deliver parts faster and where defects occur more often.

Important rule: all discussion of the part should be conducted within the “Procurement” thread in the ticket itself. This way, discussions about parts are not mixed with discussions about the repair itself in the order, and the history of changes (who assigned the purchaser, what the price was) is saved in the ticket log.

Controlling Status

The ticket status is the “pulse” of procurement.

“Requires purchaser assignment” — the task is waiting for a manager’s attention.
“In progress” — the part is being searched for or ordered.
“Receipt” — the part has arrived in stock and is ready for installation.

As long as the status is not changed, the order remains in the general list of the procurement panel. This allows for a 5-minute review during the morning briefing of all stalled parts and understanding why a particular repair is on hold.

Why This Works Better Than Phone Calls

Moving procurement into a ticket system provides three advantages:

No “Forgotten” Parts. Every line in the panel is a real need that will not disappear until it is closed.
Transparency for the Technician. The technician doesn’t need to run to the purchaser and ask, “How’s it going?” They see the procurement status right in their order.
Cost Accounting. The price of the part from the ticket immediately goes into the total cost of the repair. You won’t forget to include it in the customer’s bill because the cost of the spare part is “embedded” in the procurement process.

Procuring spare parts should be boring and predictable. When this is turned into routine work via tickets, the number of urgent “fires” with customers waiting for a part for the second week is reduced to a minimum.