The Pillar Surplus Moment

The Value of Preventative Maintenance The primary goal of maintenance is to make sure things are operating at a satisfactory level to avoid failure. All technology needs some sort of maintenance at a point in time, whether it be your vehicle, tractor/machinery, heating and cooling systems, or even just a toaster. I have personally seen preventative maintenance not be prioritized at another place I’ve worked. When the program was not prioritized, our toaster broke down and later on short-circuited the rest of the equipment within the store.   After the toaster, it was the coffee brewer, then the water pumps, then the water heater, one breaking down after another. It felt like there was a new problem every day. Luckily, the store eventually went back to normal after 2-3 weeks and after multiple expenses... This situation brought on many inconveniences for us employees and a few guests. The Preventative Maintenance Program creates habits to help maintain a successful busines

Optimizing Your Hydraulic Systems with Cartridge Valves Cartridge valves are one of the many hydraulic parts we have in stock that associate with the pressure, directional, and flow control valves that screw into captive fasteners to provide substantial energy savings. With advancing electronic controls and greater flexibility, they will become even more affordable with a design that allows customization for hydraulic circuits using a machined manifold block.   Using a cartridge valve in a hydraulic system eliminates the amount of piping, creating efficiency.  That efficiency allows the lightweight and compacted valve to accommodate simplified installation, reducing labor and costs. The whole system becomes, ”50% lighter when using the cartridge valve compared to using the smallest common-cavity valve,” (Gordon Dow, 2017). Though the load capacity of the machine relies on every pound of each hydraulic part installed, so lifts have to have an equivalence for safety. To

Hello Blogger Buds!  I wanted to let you guys know about some current events happening at Pillar Surplus. Without following our Facebook or being subscribed to our Newsletter, you may not have heard about our new category on the website.  Some items have been in our stock for way too long, so we’re taking 30% OFF on our parts under the new Clearance tab. Parts are always aging, so parts will always be added. Check in consistently to find things you may need at a discounted price at www.pillarsurplus.com. Pillar Surplus is also having a Quantity Sale.  I f you buy a larger quantity, receive a larger discount!   Buying 6-8 of one of the selected parts below to get 15% OFF your purchase, or buy 9-11 of them for 20% OFF.   Keep in mind, when making these large purchases, make sure you request combined shipping to save even more money. Feel Free to Follow our Facebook, to be kept in-sync with all the products that are selected for this sale, images will be shown. 

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 effi

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

The Importance of Vehicle Maintenance As our boss over at Pillar Surplus would say, “The most important things are safety, safety, safety!” So, since March is our Vehicle Sale Special, we saw the opportunity to talk about the importance of vehicle maintenance. Building this awareness can possibly help our customers to be as safe as we are over here at Pillar Surplus. I found that even when it comes to vehicle parts that seem minor, repairs should not be procrastinated and should be corrected as soon as possible. Each part is like a gear that keeps all the other gears spinning. Moving through icy winters, spring floods, and summer potholes, your car goes through a lot! From belts, brake parts, fuses, air filters, and lights they all have a job that will help provide our customers the convenience and safety needed for the road. An air filter may be one of your least concerns in your vehicle, but filters prevent pollutants, dust, smog, mold, spores, and unwanted debris from

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

Hello buying world! I wanted to take a moment to introduce to you Pillar Surplus. We are a growing online seller of surplus parts and commodities. Pillar Surplus was born as an outlet for the left-over items and overstock that our parent company acquired through the auctions and and buy-outs that the company participated in. Instead of sending these items to the scrapyard, they took up valuable warehouse space and collected dust. Finally, in 2013, the amount of stuff that had been squirreled away over the years became too much to ignore.  BEHOLD...Pillar Surplus was born. At first, the volume of items was overwhelming. Then, a plan was devised and inventorying these items began. Items were assigned lot numbers for identification and pricing was decided. Items were listed on eBay for the buying world to purchase. It was becoming apparent that the stock pile of items was large enough to warrant a website in hopes to reach the rest of the buying community. Getting the surplus items