July 8th, 2010 · Parts
Let’s get into the nitty gritty on tools, parts and the hard labor of keeping a ship running..
Oh, I just thought of a little note I got from a friend the other day. It was about “Danfoss” parts. He was asking why at times it was so difficult to locate Danfoss parts. He had just gone through a whole day looking for a pressure switch. Mind you, the one he was looking for was probably a old one that had been in use for some time. Anyhow, he had a partial number, a serial number, rating in bar, differential in bar, voltage and size of connections.
You would think he said, that a company as large as “Danfoss” would have a way of tracking old serial numbers on these things. After speaking with a “Danfoss Technical Rep” they came to a conclusion the old part would be replaced with a model that was fairly close in the ratings. After this process he was asking for a way of getting the part and was told by the distributor that getting parts from “Danfoss” sent out the same day was next to impossible. Delivery could be up to 10 working days. Back to square one he said, just about ready to give up.
I know from personal experience that it can be hard at times to locate these various parts that you would need on a ship.
One rule of thumb that a chief engineer should always remember when ordering parts is that the person he is communicating with ashore has to be provided with all possible information. What seem easy and “Standard” to you onboard might not be so in the hands of a purchasing officer ashore. The contactor looks very simple and standard in your hands but don’t forget that the person ashore doesn’t have the part in his/her hands.
Today with communication being as it is with e-mail etc. there should be no problems for you to attach a digital photo of the part. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is so true.
Now comes the tricky part, deciding on a replacement part!
Tags: differential pressure switch
So far we have done a basic introduction to the Ship Repair Companies, Ships Agency Companies so no comes the turn to the Ship Supplier or Ships Chandler as they are also called.
What does a ship chandler do? A ship chandler or ship supplier is a company that specializes in accommodating the request for stores and spares to the ships. This is a very broad term and it covers a lot of different product categories. It can be anything from Tomatoes to Engine Pistons and Nuts and Bolts.
A ship Chandler usually works directly with the Ship Manager or Ship Owner. A large part of Ship Supplier work is simply sourcing of products used onboard the ships. Today the world is the shopping ground for ship suppliers. Anything can be sent express to just about anywhere in 3-5 days. This speed of service has been a blessing and also made it possible for the ship owner to have his ship replenished with stores at just about any location in the world.
The speed of the ships has also made in necessary to increase the speed of deliveries. In order to accomplish this most owners or managers are preparing any requirements well in advance of ship arrival. Ship arrives, get the stores delivered and shortly after are underway again. A ship supplier locates a product that has been requested by the ship staff. This product is delivered to the vessel at first opportunity. The charges related to this service are then invoiced to the owner or manager.
In dealing with a multitude of owners from all over the world it can be a task at times to keep track of the owner or managers credit rating. Many of the ship chandlers are gambling large amounts of money on their customers and some of them loose it at times. There are a few people specializing in collection of overdue billing but it is usually the ship chandler them self that has to do the collections.
Tags: ship chandlers·ship suppliers
