Have you ever started a project and realized half-way through that you were missing a key component?
Whether it’s been misplaced or was never there to begin with, it’s always a frustrating and often costly moment. You lose time, momentum, and even money as you seek to remedy the situation.
While this is always a possibility when you start a project, there are steps you can take to prepare for this possibility and the first is to make sure you’ve got a stock of commonly used and needed components on hand.
This way, when you hit a stall in the project, all you have to do is grab the missing component from your storage and get right back to work.
The components you choose will, more than likely, depend on you and your business, but there are a few things that never change.
First of all, when choosing your “on hand” components, it’s important to consider four specific criteria. We’ve detailed these four criteria more extensively in a separate blog, but, for the purpose of this blog, here are some questions we hear frequently and the response/criteria that we believe they affect:
1. Are they durable?
Durability matters because they affect time and value. If you choose component parts that don’t last (even if they’re cheaper to begin with), you’ll find yourself spending more money and wasting more time over the years as you continually reorder and replace pieces. Weak components cause unnecessary downtime and require consistent upkeep.
2. Are they easy to work with?
Component parts that require special tools or machining are often unnecessary and will only take more of your time and energy to work with. They’re not worth the hassle!
3. How much are they?
Components are often overpriced for what you’re getting. Do yourself a favor and do some research. More expensive doesn’t always mean better, but you do need to consider components as an investment. Choosing components simply because they’re cheaper might not be the best move for the long term.
4. Are they readily available?
Once you settle on a few key components that you know you’ll use frequently, you’ll want to make sure you can find them and get them quickly. If the components you choose have a long turn-around time, you might want to rethink your choices. Think about it – when crunch time comes, you don’t want to have to press pause on a project and wait for anything!
Considering these questions and choosing components accordingly is critical because the purpose of investing in components is to make your life easier! It’s meant to keep you from having to frequently replace parts, to keep you from losing unnecessary time with difficult parts, to keep you from wasting money or time on expensive parts that aren’t available when you need them.
It’s not just okay to be picky with these decisions – it’s recommended! Do your research, take your time, and find the component parts that meet your needs – each and every one of them.
The thing is, it’s hard to get too specific without know what project you’re working on and what your needs are.
That said, once you’ve determined the material, price, availability, and ease of use of the components you’re interested in, there are always a few components we recommend keeping on hand.
T-Slotted extrusions can be used for structural framework, supports, door and safety screen frames, and more. Seriously. Anything goes! We especially recommend these because they are strong, durable, light weight, and have a nice, clean appearance. Plus, they’re ease to work with, can be used interchangeably, and are recyclable – A.K.A. you can use them for different projects over time as you might have the need!
You should always have some brackets on hand and in various sizes. They make assembly simple as they’re primarily designed to work as attachments for support beams, enabling you to build any structure you can imagine!
These are typically designed to perfectly join support beams for stable and neat construction, further enabling you to create whatever is needed at any given time. In addition, at least at Tekno, they are created purely out of mild steel and zink-plated, which make them the perfect blend of strength and durability.
Don’t start a project without this! No matter what you need, it’s important to have a variety of assembly hardware ready for whatever your project might have in store for you.
One of the biggest things we try to stress is that it’s important to start your projects with everything you need. Don’t get halfway into a project and realize you need to start over or put the project on hold.
By finding and purchasing components that are durable, easy to use, and made out of materials that last you’ll be amazed at how much money and time you’re able to save, not just throughout the project itself, but well into the future.
To make your life even easier and guarantee that you have what you need - without spending unnecessary funds - you can choose a consignment program! Consignment programs allow you to work directly with your manufacturer to stock components at your facility that you can use as you need them. The key advantage, as least here at Tekno, is that you don’t have to purchase these parts in advance, just pay for them as they are used!
If you’d like a consultation about component parts or our consignment program, click here to contact us! We’d love to hear from you and to help you find the components you need to keep on hand and the best way to do just that!
