Parts Harvesting on the Cloud

If your business involves disassembling or harvesting usable parts from larger systems, you know how critical accuracy is to your success. Whether you’re extracting components from a used Buick or a CT scanner, effectively managing costs, labor, and inventory is essential for maintaining profitability.  

Manually performing these processes means a lot of administrative work—without a cloud-based system, you're continuously entering and re-entering information, juggling complex information. Maybe you’re relying on spreadsheets or multiple disconnected applications to keep up with daily operations. Without a centralized database, gaining clear visibility into these processes can be challenging, if not impossible. 

So, What Is Parts Harvesting? 

In the Legendary Supply Chain application, "Harvest" refers to the systematic breakdown of old equipment into its usable parts. These parts are eventually repurposed and returned into the supply chain. As a piece of equipment reaches the end of its lifecycle, its individual components can often hold more value than the entire system. This process is used across many industries, from junkyards to solar farms.

While specific harvesting processes vary greatly by industries, the core steps generally remain the same: 

1. Identify and disassemble the parts you want to salvage. 

2. Create inventory records for each part. 

3. Perform any necessary repairs. 

4. Track all associated costs and time worked. 

5. Consume the parts by resale or using the parts internally. 

Harvest is one of many excellent strategies to extend the lifecycle of valuable parts and equipment, and incorporating these processes has many benefits.

Extending Asset Lifecycle

A Cost-Effective Strategy: It's a simple concept - reduce the amount you need to purchase by keeping your assets in use longer. It's easy to say, but to meaningfully and strategically extend the lifecycle of your assets, you'll need a powerful system to help manage your inventory at every step of its lifecycle.

Legendary Supply Chain’s maintenance and repair features offer the tools to achieve this, while offering you important insights into analytics and reporting. When your equipment reaches the end of its life, the harvest functionality helps you to strategically repurpose parts, so you don’t have to discard the entire system.

Supporting the Circular Supply Chain: In the post-COVID era, businesses are increasingly focusing on sustainability, with an emphasis on creating products that are easier to disassemble and reuse. This shift supports a "circular supply chain," where refurbished items re-enter the market, reducing energy consumption and minimizing landfill waste.

Challenges of Manual Processes 

Administrative Woes: Manual processes are time-consuming. If your business is still small, it may not drain too much time, but to be growth-minded, you'll want to set yourself up for success at every level. As your business scales, the volume of inventory you're managing can dramatically increase; suddenly, staying on top of an organized inventory is a major challenge. Manual systems and siloed data can't offer up-to-date inventory visibility or reporting -- the tools you need to stay ahead in a competitive market. You may face problems like:

• Missing vendor or warranty information
• No record of repairs and maintenance
• No ability to schedule equipment maintenance
• Lost time due to manual administration
• Difficulty staying organized with a high volume of parts
• Slowed operations due to extra administration
• Team kept busy with administrative work, not value-add tasks

The High Risk of Human Error: Human error is a significant risk in any manual process and can lead to costly mistakes. As your business grows, the risk and severity becomes higher. Preventable mistakes caused by a manual system can result in lost time, increased costs, and potential disruptions to your business operations. Common errors can include:

• Mislabeling or misplacing parts in your inventory
• Omitting or duplicating entries in your records
• Incorrect valuation of parts
• Unknown or forgotten history of item
• No ability to see which user took what action
• Missed maintenance or repair actions

Harvesting on the Legendary Platform

Legendary Supply Chain was founded by supply chain experts who recognized a need in the market for software that could help organizations manage their harvest operations on the same database as their transactional, inventory, and warehouse operations. We recognized that teams performing Harvest processes needed a system that could be:

• Automated
• Configurable
• Efficient
• Simple
• Scalable

By meeting these needs, Legendary Supply Chain helps teams get their work done more efficiently and accurately.

How Does it Work?

Legendary Supply Chain is divided into applications by user role. Harvest functions can be found within the Technical Operations application, which is where users can also manage repair operations, building and kitting. Let's briefly review the general steps of a Harvest process:

1) Select inventory item to be harvested and create Technical Operations Order.

Automation is not a one-size-fits all for every organization. Within these technical processes, you have the control to set different automation points that empower your team's workflow, streamline processes and reduce unnecessary administration.

2) From the Bill of Materials, scan or select which parts to pull, and perform the Harvest process.

Within the Technical Operations Order, you can maintain information such as:

• Time Worked
• Incurred Costs
• Checklist Templates
• Notes
• User information
• Part Details

3) Add items into inventory

Inventory records in the Legendary platform are rich with data that follows the part throughout its lifecycle, offering real-time information for each item. These records capture information such as:

• History
• Location
• Vendor details
• Related records
• Repair history
• Value
• Cosmetic Condition
• Usage
• Serial Number

4) Make any necessary repairs

With just a few clicks, you've created inventory records for every harvested item. If you need to make any repairs, you can do so by opening a new Repair Order within each specific inventory record.

Advantages of Harvesting on the Legendary Platform

Unified Database with Up-to-Date Information: The Legendary Supply Chain platform is a suite of applications built on Salesforce, designed specifically with service and distribution organizations in mind. Leveraging this platform ensures access to real-time information across all operations. Eliminate the guesswork and make informed decisions with confidence. Whether you’re managing parts, repairs, transactions or more, the system’s up-to-date records keep you organized and efficient.

Seamless Integration Across Operations: One of the advantages of using Legendary Supply Chain is the ability to connect Harvest Orders with repair and sales orders within the same application. This means you can easily follow a part’s journey from disassembly to final consumption within a single, integrated system. 

Faster Processes with Greater Accuracy and Less Administration: A cloud-based system streamlines your operations by automating many of the manual tasks that typically slow down your processes. Instead of entering and re-entering data, Legendary Supply Chain simplifies the harvest process into a few easy clicks. Get work done faster, with greater accuracy. Free up valuable time for more strategic activities. 

Scalable for Company Growth: As your business grows, so do your operational needs. Legendary Supply Chain is designed to grow with your company, providing the flexibility and capacity to handle increasing volumes of inventory, orders, and data. Whether you’re expanding your operations or diversifying your product offerings, the system can grow with you, ensuring that you always have the tools you need to manage your business effectively.