1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212 
Revolution coming in spores ystems?
Page 77
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
COMPUTERS have already made their mark in the spares organizations of vehicle and component makers and it now seems certain that advanced techniques for spares control will be finding their way down to the end of the line—dealers' stores—in the not-toodistant future. Not with equipment anything like as complex as computers but with systems allowing simplified and more efficient methods of information retrieval.
Recording, storing and retrieving information is a field in which International Data Highways has a strong position and this company has now applied its VSMF (Visual Search Micro Film) system to vehicle spare parts supply. With this, pages of spare parts catalogues are put onto microfilm, carried in cassettes which fit on a "reader" or selfcontained projector. A turnwheel is used to locate the index and then the particular page and bring it into view on a glass screen. In this way the unit is used in exactly the same way as reading a catalogue.
The VSMF is one of the latest spares recording systems to be tried out by BMC. Mini and Laird spares lists have been put onto twin-track microfilm cassettes by IDH and a number of sets and readers are in use by dealers for appraisal.
Another type of system under investigation by BMC uses "micro dots" in which the image on film is considerably smaller than is the case with microfilm and requires more expensive equipment to reproduce on a screen— about £300 as compared to £60 for microfilm—and it is not yet certain which system will be adopted by the concern.
The big advantage with both types is saving in space. Micro dots reduce 3,000 pages of a catalogue down to film which would cover an area about the size of a postcard while a microfilm cassette measuring 7in. by 3in. by 0.75in. holds about 9,000 pages. When the latter can result in the 74 spares catalogues covering BMC car and commercial vehicle models being contained in six cartridges, the difference seems rather irrelevant but in the plan devised by BMC it is proposed to re-issue up-dated cassettes at two-monthly intervals and differences in postage costs could be significant.
It may seem excessive to re-issue catalogues at such close intervals but alterations to the film to match the current practice of replacing catalogue pages for up-dating are not possible and two months is considered the minimum. And the need to up-date by complete replacement brings the important advantage that retention of wrong information through the fallibility of personnel entrusted with keeping spares books up to date is avoided.
In any information system there are three elements of cost: costs at the centre (compilation and preparation of information), costs of transmission (material used, postage and packing, etc.1, and costs of retrieval. Methods using film cut the second element drastically but there is the need for retrieval equipment for the third and this compares with a nil cost for current methods using information paper. Costs of retrieval are inherently less with microfilm than with micro dots because less sophisticated and complex equipment is needed and microfilm readers are lighter and therefore more easily portable. This is an important point because the total cost of one of these systems depends on the number of readers that are required and where one can service two points in a spares store with one reader then obviously this part of the cost is halved. At the same time where the system involves a lot of read-out points the use of high-cost readers could be prohibitive.
It is not possible to evaluate comparable costs for film or paper in an organization as big as BMC without extensive investigation but retrieval costs using film would be set against the enormous cost of paper used by the manufacturer which is reported as being in the order of 75m pages a year for spares catalogues.
Cost is really the crux of the matter and the practicability of any of the new systems depends upon the comparison with paper methods. It is hardly likely that manufacturers will be able to dispense with spares catalogues on paper altogether. There will be the small vehicle user who wants a catalogue for only one or two vehicles and it is not conceivable that he would be willing to pay even £60 for a method of reading a film. Big dealers of one make of vehicle will find it easier and cheaper to convert to using the new methods than the large fleet users who have comprehensive spares systems covering various makes, and costs would be at the highest—in relation to turnover--for the smaller dealer who is likely to have a number of franchises.
Other manufacturers, including Rootes and Ford, are reported to be considering turning to film and the problems in fleets and smaller dealer outlets will be increased enormously if different systems to different standards needing totally different equipment are employed. Imagine the case of a fleet user who runs five makes of vehicle and has to have one reader for his Ford, one for his BMC and one for each of the other three makes. Compatibility between systems used by different firms is very important and at least the same basic method—rnicrofilm or micro dots—should be used. It would seem that there is a stronger case for microfilm because of the cheaper and simpler read-out equipment. Initial price is not, of course, the only factor. Reliability and ease of repair are very important; if information retrieval hinges completely on the proper working of one item of equipment, when this goes wrong it is the same as locking all the spares catalogues in the place in a cupboard and throwing the key away.
One thing that is clear on this subject is that the eventual introduction of a film system for spares catalogues by vehicle manufacturers is inevitable. But when manufacturers decide their policies they should consider the importance of ensuring adequate penetration down the line of spares stockists—including small dealers and fleet users—by making sure that the system is acceptable and economical to use for all of them. If this is not done and many of the smaller people who now use their own catalogues start to rely on getting information from the central distribution points, overloading them with inquiries there could be chaos in spares supply. In the final analysis the film system that is to be employed needs to be compatible with computers which the bigger distributors are turning to more and more. And information available on film should go beyond simply spares and form a comprehensive system of information storage for users of the equipment. IDH already plans to offer "service manuals on microfilms" and has done a lot of work already in other industries on putting brochures and standards and data sheets onto microfilm. A similar coverage for the vehicle industry would have undoubted benefits.
The point about the need for compatibility with computers is of relevance when it is considered that putting a part number to a part name is only one phase in the problem of matching a part physically to a verbal description which is often misleading. Between these two points a stores clerk can have a difficult time not only with interpretation but locating the part in the stores, the identifying the price, probably having to go to two or three lists to find it. Film systems lend themselves to integration with advanced techniques covering the whole field of spare-parts supply, although no doubt it will take time for stores personnel to get accustomed to them. And no doubt there will be many who will find some disadvantage in the fact that unlike a paper catalogue one cannot make notes on a film. A.J.W.