Case Study: Buckeye Valley Fire District Uses Parts Inventory to Save Money
About Buckeye Valley Fire District
The Buckeye Valley Fire District is a full-service fire district in the far West Valley in Arizona. It has been a member of the Phoenix Regional Automatic Aid System since 2010 and responds to about 12,000 calls a year.
As a fire and medical department, the BVFD also has a medical services division.
BVFD Had an Inefficient Parts Management System
The Buckeye Valley Fire District was struggling with its parts management system – when it came to keeping track of vehicle parts, but more importantly, they were also inefficient at tracking their EMS supplies. They needed to determine what they really needed to keep in stock on their shelves, and they needed to ensure the medical and emergency products were safe to be used. Unlike vehicle parts, EMS supplies have expiration dates. The BVFD needed to ensure the EMS products they were keeping on their shelves were safe to use on patients.
They Started Using RTA’s Parts Management Tools
To improve their parts management program, Preston Hundley, the Logistics Officer at BVFD, got creative. He decided to modify RTA’s parts management tools to also track the operation’s EMS supplies.
The Operation Is More Efficient at Ordering Supplies, Tracking Parts
Using RTA’s parts management tools, BVFD can now track costs, vendors, and what parts and EMS supplies the organization is using versus what they assume they are using. In time, Hundley also expects these efficiencies to save the operation money.
The staff can better track which supplies are being used, how many are in stock, and how many need to be reordered – and when. They are also using the warranty features of RTA to not only track parts warranties, but to alert them when supplies on the shelves are expiring.
This ensures the operation is being more efficient when ordering and storing supplies and ensures the fire department has the emergency supplies they need – and that are safe to use during emergency calls.