Guides
Every guide is signed by its author, and each one is dated. Where a guide states a figure, it states where the figure comes from.
- 01
How to find a replacement for an obsolete industrial part
Where manufacturers publish lifecycle status and successors, how to tell whether a successor really fits, and what to do when it does not.
5 min readMykola Piatkov
ObsolescencePart numbersMigrationSourcing - 02
Spotting a counterfeit industrial part
A practical incoming-inspection routine for contactors, drives and PLC modules — packaging, plate, build and behaviour, in that order.
6 min readMykola Piatkov
CounterfeitsQualitySourcingSiemens - 03
How requests for quotes work on Sparehawk
What happens between sending a request and choosing a quote — who sees it, what they see, how long it takes, and how to write one that gets answered.
5 min readMykola Piatkov
RFQsSourcingMarketplace - 04
Incoterms for spare parts, without the jargon
Which of the eleven Incoterms actually appear on industrial spare-parts quotes, what each one costs you, and which to ask for.
5 min readMykola Piatkov
IncotermsLogisticsSourcing - 05
Lead time versus stock — reading an availability promise
What “in stock”, “ships in 5 days” and “on request” really mean on a spare-parts offer, and how to tell which promise will hold.
5 min readMykola Piatkov
Lead timeStockSourcingMarketplace - 06
Obsolescence management for industrial spares
How to find out what is going obsolete in your plant, decide what to buy now, and stop paying antique prices for a relay in year six.
6 min readMykola Piatkov
ObsolescenceMaintenanceSiemensRockwell - 07
Replacing a PowerFlex 4 with a PowerFlex 525
Mounting, wiring, parameters and network — what carries over from PowerFlex 4/40 to the PowerFlex 520 series and what does not.
6 min readMykola Piatkov
RockwellDrivesMigrationObsolescence - 08
New surplus, refurbished or used — which to buy
What the four condition grades on an industrial parts marketplace actually mean, what each one is worth, and when each is the right choice.
5 min readMykola Piatkov
Condition gradesSourcingWarranty - 09
Migrating from SIMATIC S7-300 to S7-1500
What actually changes when you move a machine from S7-300 to S7-1500 — hardware, addressing, code and the two weeks of commissioning nobody budgets for.
6 min readMykola Piatkov
SiemensPLCMigrationObsolescence - 10
Buying safety parts — certifications and what not to compromise
Why safety relays, light curtains and STO-rated drives are a different purchase, what the ratings mean, and the three rules for secondary-market safety components.
5 min readMykola Piatkov
SafetyCertificationsSourcingQuality - 11
How to read a Siemens order number
What each block of a 6ES7, 6SL, 3RT or 6AV article number means, and how to use it to find the exact part rather than something that looks like it.
5 min readMykola Piatkov
SiemensPart numbersSourcing - 12
Building a spare-parts BOM that is worth having
How to go from a machine with no parts list to a bill of materials you can quote, stock against and hand to the next engineer.
5 min readMykola Piatkov
BOMMaintenanceSourcing - 13
Warranty on surplus and refurbished parts
Who stands behind a part that did not come from the manufacturer, what a supplier warranty typically covers, and what to agree before you order.
6 min readMykola Piatkov
WarrantyCondition gradesSourcingLegal