Amtrak IG Report on the lack of effective management of parts inventory

[lordsigma]

A very timely and important report by the IG. Part availability and lead times are a major problem in many sectors at the moment. So it's important for Amtrak's own internal processes to not further exasperate the situation. I hope they will keep on management about this critical area and ensure they follow through.

UPDATE - would help if I shared the link:

https://amtrakoig.gov/sites/default/files/reports/OIG-A-2024-004 Inventory.pdf

 

[Willbridge]

I read the trains.com story and immediately thought of my dad's recollections of WWII service in an Army Air Corps parts warehouse. (He wore glasses, could type, and drive a truck, so the WWII method of assigning people by stereotypes clicked.) He was explaining it to us kids when we asked why there were so many War Surplus stores. His explanation would have fit this description of Amtrak's problem.

He also explained to us that the confusion covered various rackets that supply sergeants were running. Years after he let us know that not everyone in the Greatest Generation was so great, I was reading a study of the Singapore bus system and found that in the 1960's parts supply was handled by an unregulated separate company controlled by the intertwined families who owned the regulated bus companies. The parts company had no method of control over inventory. They just charged the bus companies whatever amount of money they needed.

Assuming that no crimes have already been committed, the situation described in Chicago appears to invite either eventual petty theft or larceny grander.