MY Firsthand Experience of Inventorying at Pillar Surplus As mentioned before Inventorying has many steps and can become very time consuming. A few days ago, I slipped on my steel toe shoes for once and got to experience a different task at Pillar Surplus. What I experienced showed me the drive my co-workers have to have, to reach success, when inventorying. At first, I honestly thought it was going to be simpler than what my previous blog had said. It was the complete opposite after the first step. The first step was taking notes and making an observation on the brand, measurements and condition. Then we take our own pictures of the part to prove that nothing is being hidden from our customers that will be viewing them on the website. After that we write its new lot number on it or its packaging with a vibrant paint marker and assign it to a bin, to make it navigable when it is purchased. Then this was repeated a couple more times at once for different parts to be ...
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What it’s like Working at Pillar Surplus “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out,” (R. Coiller). From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every Monday through Friday, my fellow co-workers consistently have hard work running through their veins. The business’s friendly service and our nicely-priced quality parts keep Pillar Surplus on its toes. When offering a variety of items, there are many steps when it comes to inventory. Workers have to gather part numbers from each part, to be documented on research forms for future use. Then they need to be counted and then photographed. Next, more research is done to collect general information and average pricing, so they can list the part on the website, Craigslist and/or eBay. Inventorying can get really in-depth but brings convenience to the customer’s table. When taking these steps, information on the parts becomes transparent. Customers know exactly what they are buying and view the condition of the product before purchasi...
Acquiring Unique Parts Large metal shipping containers full of crates are brimming with product to send and inventory. Pillar Surplus helps provide customer convenience by stocking up on unique and hard to find parts. If someone ever comes up dry searching a part from a specific brand, they have Pillar Surplus to lean on. We have had multiple interactions with auctions and close-outs to collect these desired parts. Engaging with our recent auctions has imported in our quality Bobcat and Caterpillar parts, vehicle filters, hydraulic hammer parts, and Dodge truck parts fro example. Older auctions have delivered in parts like bearings from various locations into our inventory as well. When it comes to researching a unique, discontinued or rare part in inventory, it can be challenging. For example, we had a Caterpillar part from the 1970’s with part number 5P94 it became very complicated to research. So, after not being able to find this part online we flipped through multiple manu...
After nearly thirty years of rebuilding, manufacturing, and supplying parts and machines, along with collecting even more parts from auctions and close-outs, stock started to overfill with units unrelated to Pillar Manufacturing ( pillarmfg.com ). As theses parts began to stock pile, it was realized that something had to be done. The question of “what” had became tough and it would just be a waste to send all of these items to a landfill. There had to be another way. So with deep thought, an outlet was born called Pillar Surplus in 2013. Pillar Surplus is a business built off countless dusty new and good used parts. The parts are considered our “hidden gems” for electrical or industrial purposes, vehicles, machinery, construction, and not to forget our additional tools, manuals, and miscellaneous supplies adding on to our growing inventory. Most of our inventory is quality new, old stock. Many of the parts have been untouched for years, packed away in storage and show sign...