How Rockwell’s Inventory+ Protects Your Bottom Line

In industrial automation, efficiency isn't optional; it’s the heartbeat of production.

And yet, many facilities still operate under a "break-fix maintenance approach" when it comes to their spare parts and asset management. It works, until it doesn’t. A single missing part, unavailable drive, or unrepairable PLC can halt production lines, costing thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollars an hour in lost productivity.

When this happens, it quickly becomes clear: poor inventory management isn’t just a minor inconvenience. It's a direct threat to your bottom line.

Rockwell Automation’s Inventory+ program offers manufacturers a smarter, strategic way to manage automation assets, one that protects uptime, controls costs, and prevents future headaches. Here’s why it’s becoming an essential part of proactive facility management.

The Real Risks Behind Inadequate Inventory Management

Disorganized inventory may seem like a minor nuisance. In reality, the impact runs much deeper. Poor asset and inventory management can expose your operation to several critical risks:

1. Unexpected Downtime

If a key component fails–a PLC module, motor controller, or industrial switch–and there’s no replacement on hand, downtime can stretch from hours into days. Express shipping can mitigate the delay, but at a significant cost, and that’s assuming the part is even available, which isn’t guaranteed in today’s strained supply chain environment.

2. Hidden Obsolescence Risk

Many facilities unknowingly rely on parts that are already discontinued or approaching obsolescence. Without visibility into the lifecycle status of your assets, you could be just one failure away from a costly scramble to retrofit or reengineer a solution.

3. Financial Waste

An unmanaged storeroom often results in racks filled with redundant, obsolete, or duplicate components. This ties up valuable capital, occupies floor space, and adds confusion rather than clarity.

4. Maintenance Challenges

Even basic preventative maintenance becomes harder to manage without an up-to-date inventory system. Technicians may not know what spare parts are available, leading to delays, reactive fixes, or costly workarounds.

In a market where every hour of uptime matters, these risks are simply too expensive to ignore.

Introducing Rockwell Automation’s Inventory+

Rockwell’s Inventory+ program is specifically designed to address these challenges, offering a comprehensive repair and asset management solution that empowers manufacturers to be proactive rather than reactive.

Here’s what it brings to the table:

Comprehensive Repair Coverage

Inventory+ offers a flat-rate, budgeted repair agreement. Instead of paying for each repair as issues arise (and scrambling for approvals), facilities can plan with a single, predictable budget. This is invoiced monthly, which helps to spread the cost over time.

Repairs are handled through Rockwell’s certified facilities, using original components and OEM standards, eliminating the uncertainty of third-party repairs and extending the life of your assets.

Spares Management Assistance

Inventory+ can also help facilities organize and optimize their spare parts inventory. Through the program, you can:

• Identify critical spare needs based on real operational data
• Pinpoint obsolete, at-risk, or unnecessary parts
• Eliminate overstocked or redundant inventory

Rockwell even offers options for off-site spares management, storing your critical replacement parts in a secure location and shipping them immediately when needed,  freeing up valuable floor space while maintaining readiness.

Lifecycle Insights

Because Rockwell maintains detailed lifecycle data for all its automation products, Inventory+ users are automatically alerted when products near end-of-life status.

This allows facilities to plan and budget for upgrades rather than facing costly emergencies when a part suddenly becomes unavailable.

However, it’s important to note that these features are available through the MyEquipment subscription, which can be added to Inventory+ at an extra cost.

Why Inventory+ Is More Critical Than Ever

In today's environment, the traditional reactive maintenance model is simply unsustainable.

Supply chain disruptions, rising equipment costs, and increasing pressure for leaner operations all mean that the cost of poor planning is higher than ever.

Inventory+ offers a way to:

• Reduce downtime risks: Immediate access to spare parts and rapid repairs when needed
• Control costs: Budgeted repair agreements and smarter spares management
• Extend equipment life: Repairs handled to OEM standards, not just temporary patches
• Plan upgrades strategically: Instead of emergency replacements, facilities can move toward proactive modernization

While Inventory+ agreements do involve a cost, often dependent on the scope of your facility, the number of assets covered, and your service level, the investment is typically small compared to the potential financial hit from just a single extended downtime incident.

That said, Inventory+ might not be the right fit for every facility. If your operation has minimal automation, extremely low criticality, or an in-house repair program that's already well-optimized, you may have different needs. It’s important to evaluate your specific risk tolerance, budget, and maintenance strategy when considering if a repair and inventory management agreement is a smart addition.

Talking to a qualified expert, like HESCO, can help you decide if Inventory+ is the right approach based on your unique facility setup.

Take Control Before Problems Control You

No facility manager wants to explain to leadership that production stopped because of a missing drive or a failed PLC without a replacement.

No operations director wants to tell a major customer that delivery is delayed again.

Inventory+ from Rockwell Automation isn’t just a service, it’s a blueprint for smarter asset management, better risk mitigation, and stronger financial control.

However, every facility is different. Depending on your size, operations, and current asset management process, the best strategy may vary. Inventory+ can be a smart investment, but it’s important to weigh its value against your specific needs, production risk, and budgetary realities.

At HESCO, we’ve seen firsthand how a proactive approach to asset and inventory management transforms operations, saving not just money but stress, customer trust, and valuable production time.

If you're ready to protect your operations and your bottom line with smarter asset management, we’re here to help.

Contact HESCO today to learn more about how Rockwell's Inventory+ program can make your facility more resilient, more efficient, and better prepared for the future.