Low energy rant

Roll

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I don't know if I really need to say anything more... Exmark parts, part numbers, and tendency to label *this number replaced by_____ .*
Too many different parts for too many different types and variations of mowers, and so much aftermarket confusion. Hours finding the original parts, (not always eXmark I'll add) and their part numbers. And, this is mostly just dealing with maintenance items.
For the amount of cash I laid out for this mower, I'm not willing to gamble on warranty arguments for the first 4 years, after that, I have no problem with aftermarket filters and oil.

The automotive industry has the part aspect handled much better than the mower industry. Okay, rant done. Thanks for listening.
 

StarTech

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It is not just Exmark. Manufactures are always superseding PNs as they change either to new vendors or improved (sometime just to replace a part that is no longer available but a sub is). This would explain why I have currently a million part numbers on my system but only over 400,000 are current numbers with the rest superseding to these.

Total SKUs on my system.

1670422991747.png

Total active SKUs.
1670423226584.png

As for warranties they are usually worthless as they are written by lawyers so the company has no real responsibility to the customer. Say you go in with an engine not running good the first thing you here it is fuel related and they don't cover fuel issues.
 

Roll

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Wow. That's a lot of data. I do like the mower, a lot actually. I was just aggravated by the time it took to sort out maintenance items. As a pro, I guess you just have to get used to it.
 

StarTech

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Wow. That's a lot of data. I do like the mower, a lot actually. I was just aggravated by the time it took to sort out maintenance items. As a pro, I guess you just have to get used to it.
Yes we have to but is still aggravating as I spend more than needed just to look up parts. The database helps a lot but even it has to updated regularly For this takes most of day once a month. I spent two hours yesterday looking an Honda axle assembly. Honda are an OEM I don't have SKUs preloaded so anything new has to be setup completely on my system for future reference and to invoice parts.
 

bertsmobile1

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When I stated 11 years ago I spent 4 hours on the computer for every hour on a mower.
Now days it is about a 1:1 ratio although a lot of this time is spent looking for factories I can order directly from for things like pulleys & filters that are either not stocked by my aftermarket suppliers or are in my opinion just too expensive
My major supplier appointed an outsider from the supermarket industry as their new GM and he is making a right royal mess of the business as he brings in supermarket purchasing theories where they are not appropriate so now they have dropped a lot of Rotary & Prime Line parts in order to get cheaper genuine Kohler or Briggs parts.
The fact that if I wanted genuine parts I could get certified & open an account with B &S or Kohler & get the parts for the same price seemed to have escaped him.
He is also discontinuing a very large amount of older slow moving parts which Stens never carried in the first place so I am forced to find new suppliers .
Hopefully the owners will give him the flick before he destroys their business.
He was brought in because they were loosing market share to Stens and since he has been there they are loosing even more market share .

I am not against any one making a reasonable profit but things like $ 60 ( AUS ) wholesale for a Kohler cylinder air filter ( $ 65 to customer as I price match on line retailers ) is just not on because he wants to give the online retailer massive discounts .

Very large companies can force some control over their supply chain but smaller makers can not
Different suppliers of the same part force a new part number as does updates to the design of the part
The days of putting a mower into a test rig & running it to destruction are long long gone so a lot of parts end up being found inadequate over the years which again force a new part number to be generated .
Now a product has a history so it is important to know that part 1234 went to 1234-1 then -2 then -3 then 2345 the 3456 then 4567.
Back when businesses had real IT departments and their warehouses did not have to be internet compliant businesses could just add suffixes to the original number .
However now days apps demand that all part numbers have to be a particular number of digits in a particular order so the tail is very much wagging the dog
When you have been around a while you can work out what off the shelf inventory control application a company is using by the format & size of their part numbers .
Once upon a time when parts books were all paper each new model would get a new book with all of the new numbers .
But this costs money that is not recoverable because Joe Public expects to get parts information for free & refuses to pay for them while at the same time expecting ticket prices to go down every year .
So it is easier to program in 1234 = 9991 than it is to update parts books and significantly cheaper to boot
 

Roll

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Больше не надо искать сайт про кофе и чай, переходите по ссылке в мир кофе и чая

Заходите на сайт <a href=https://coffee-mir.ru/>coffee-mir.ru</a>
This is a message about visiting the "World of Coffee and Tea" (link)

Probably not on point with the topic of the thread.
 
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