What kinds of manufacturing lines do you work on?

Any of them. We work with manufacturers of any size and any industry — food, consumer products, industrial, you name it. If you've got a line, we can look at it.

Do you only do new automation, or do you support existing equipment?

Both. A lot of our work is fixing, maintaining, and getting more out of equipment that's already on your floor — not just selling you something new. If your current setup can be improved without a full overhaul, that's usually where we start.

What is your service area?

Northern Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Southern Maine.

How fast can you get to us in an emergency?

We handle emergency troubleshooting and repair — mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, and hydraulic — and we respond fast when a line is down. Reach out and we'll get you a real timeframe based on where you're located and what's going on.

How does pricing work — project-based, hourly, retainer?

Initial consults and sales calls are free. Engineering and design work is billed at $175/hr, troubleshooting and repair at $150/hr, and travel at $125/hr. Equipment, materials, and consumables are quoted separately based on the job.

Do you offer preventive maintenance programs?

We can, but it's not the core of what we do — we're primarily an on-call resource for when your in-house team is stuck or stretched thin. Scheduled maintenance is available in special cases if that's a better fit for your operation.

What consumables do you supply, and can you match what we currently use?

Labels, tapes, and shrink films, primarily through Decker Tape Products. That covers everything from basic box-sealing tape to hazard labels, pallet protection, and specialty security tape. We can match your current specs or help you source the right product for a new application. Reordering works either on-call or on a subscription schedule.

Can you work around our production schedule so we don't lose runtime?

Yes — that's part of what we plan for during the design phase. We work with you to figure out timing, floor space, and personnel needs before anything gets installed, and phase in bigger changes so you're not stuck shutting the whole line down at once.

What does a typical project look like from first call to running line?

It starts with a site visit — we walk the floor, look at your current process, production speeds, and where you're headed. From there we usually flag quick wins before getting into bigger design work. Once we agree on goals, we move into sourcing equipment, coordinating with vendors, and building anything custom that's needed. Then it's delivery, installation, commissioning, and training your team on the new setup.

Do you build custom machines, or only install off-the-shelf equipment?

Both. We'll always look for the simplest off-the-shelf solution first. But when nothing off-the-shelf solves the problem, we design and build custom equipment to fit.

How long does a custom build take?

It depends. Off-the-shelf integrations tend to move fast. Custom builds involve some R&D, and that part is genuinely variable — some go smoothly, others take a few iterations to get the process right. We'll be upfront with you about where a project stands and won't promise a fixed timeline we can't back up.

What if our product needs to stay "handmade" or keep a certain identity?

We build that into the design requirements from the start. If part of what makes your product special has to stay done by hand, we figure out exactly what that means — what has to stay manual and what can be automated — before we design anything.

Do you help with factory layout, not just individual machines?

Yes — we design the flow of product through your facility, from raw goods coming in to finished product ready to ship. That includes organizing maintenance tool rooms and repair part storage, not just the production line itself.

We're short-staffed and can't find enough help — can automation actually solve that?

Often, yes. A lot of our projects start exactly there — a client can't find enough people to run a manual process, and automating it frees up the staff they do have for higher-value work.

What if we just want to get more out of the equipment we already have?

That's a common starting point. Sometimes it's a simple flow fix — for example, moving product straight from where it's made into packaging instead of dropping it into a bin that then has to be re-sorted. Small changes like that can meaningfully increase throughput without buying new equipment.

Do you require a deposit or commitment before starting design work?

Yes — once we've done the initial site visit and identified quick wins and design goals, we need a financial commitment to move into detailed design, sourcing, and custom build work.

What size manufacturer do you typically work with?

Our sweet spot is 10 to 250 line employees, but we work with smaller shops that are growth-minded and larger operations too — even if they've got some in-house capability already.

Who typically reaches out to you — do we need to already know exactly what we need?

Not at all. We hear from CEOs, plant managers, operations managers, maintenance managers, and sometimes safety or HR staff dealing with an ergonomic or hazard issue. You don't need a fully scoped project — a lot of engagements start with 'something's not working right' or 'we think there's a better way to do this.'

Will bringing in automation mean cutting jobs?

Not necessarily — a lot of our projects are about freeing up staff for higher-value work, not replacing them, especially for manufacturers who are already struggling to find enough labor. Worth talking through your specific situation so we can be straight with you about what a project would actually mean for your team.

How do we know this will actually pay off?

Fair question, and not one we'll dodge. We can walk through the numbers with you — current costs, expected efficiency gains, and a realistic timeline — before you commit to anything. The initial consult is free specifically so you can get real answers before spending anything.

How Do You Set Up a Tool Room — and What Should You Actually Stock In It?

Name: AutoIC LLC
Telephone: 603-748-6216
Price range: $$

A practical guide to organizing a maintenance tool room or parts storeroom: what to inventory, how to decide what's worth stocking, and how to keep track of it.

Ken deAlmeida

9/11/20265 min read

a man riding a skateboard down the side of a ramp

Short answer: stock the parts that would actually stop production if they failed and weren't on hand, organize them so anyone can find them without hunting, and track them with a system simple enough that people actually use it. A disorganized tool room isn't just an eyesore — it's one of the most common, least-noticed causes of extended downtime, because the part is often in the building somewhere, just not findable when it matters.

What is a tool room actually for?

Its job is simple to state and easy to get wrong in practice: get maintenance techs the right part, in the right quantity, in the right condition, at the right time (Augury, 2025). Managed well, it directly improves OEE, safety, and how fast a line comes back up after a breakdown. Managed poorly, it becomes a source of hidden cost — duplicate purchases because nobody could find what was already there, "just-in-case" hoarding that ties up capital, and mystery parts that quietly disappear between the crib and the job site (GetMaintainX, 2026).

The stakes are real: research estimates unplanned downtime costs manufacturers as much as $50 billion a year industry-wide (EZO, 2026). A well-run tool room won't eliminate every failure, but it removes one of the most avoidable causes of how long a failure keeps you down.

What's the difference between a tool crib and a parts storeroom?

They're often the same physical space but serve two different jobs, and treating them the same is where a lot of tool rooms get muddled:

Tool crib — tools that require custody tracking, inspection, or calibration: precision measuring instruments, specialty hand tools, PPE, anything that needs to be checked out, checked back in, and periodically verified (EZO, 2026).
Parts storeroom — consumables and spares that get used up and replenished: bearings, belts, gaskets, fasteners, motors, sensors, lubricants — managed with min/max levels and reorder rules rather than check-in/check-out (EZO, 2026).

Setting them up with different rules from the start — custody tracking for one, stock-level tracking for the other — saves a lot of confusion later.

What should you actually inventory?

At minimum, plan for these categories, since they cover most of what a maintenance team reaches for under time pressure:

Wear items — belts, bearings, seals, gaskets, filters — things that fail predictably and often
Fasteners and general hardware — the small stuff that runs out constantly and stalls a job when it's missing
Lubricants and consumables used in preventive maintenance
Critical spares for key production equipment — motors, drives, sensors, PLCs or PLC components, and anything specific to a machine that would otherwise mean waiting on a vendor
Calibrated and specialty tools — measuring instruments, torque wrenches, anything that needs periodic verification and a documented custody trail

Manufacturing facilities generally keep spares on hand precisely so a failure can be fixed in minutes instead of days or weeks (GetMaintainX, 2026).

How do you decide which spare parts are actually critical enough to stock?

Not every part deserves shelf space, and stocking everything is its own kind of waste. The most effective programs prioritize spares based on risk and replacement difficulty (Fanuc / TIE Information Center, 2026). Ask, for each part:

How long would we be down without it? Long vendor lead times push a part toward "stock it."
How hard is it to source? Aging or obsolete equipment often means a part that used to arrive overnight now requires extensive searching or a repair service instead (Fanuc / TIE Information Center, 2026) — exactly the kind of part worth having on the shelf before that becomes a crisis.
What does the failure actually stop? A part tied to a single point of failure on a critical line ranks differently than one on a redundant or low-impact system.
What's the cost of being wrong? Weigh the shelf cost of stocking it against the production cost of not having it — this is where the honest math almost always favors stocking the part.

For expensive, hard-to-source components — think drives or major motors on aging CNC or robotic equipment — a rotational spares strategy can be the smarter move: install a spare from inventory when one fails, send the failed unit out for repair, and it comes back into rotation once fixed, instead of buying a full replacement every time (Fanuc / TIE Information Center, 2026).

How much of each part should you keep on hand?

Set realistic min/max levels for each item — a minimum quantity that triggers a reorder, and a maximum that keeps you from over-stocking slow-moving parts and tying up capital on a shelf collecting dust (Maintainly, 2026). This is where a lot of storerooms swing to one extreme or the other: either everything is "just in case" and capital sits idle on shelves, or nothing is stocked and every failure becomes an emergency order. Classifying parts first — by criticality and how often they're used — makes the min/max conversation much easier, since a critical, hard-to-source part earns a different stocking rule than a common fastener you can get from three local suppliers same-day.

How do you physically organize it once you know what to stock?

A few practices consistently show up in well-run tool rooms:

Give it enough room to avoid congestion. Being able to find a part quickly matters as much as having it at all — that requires a defined catalog and layout, not stacked bins wherever there's space (Augury, 2025).
Protect parts from degradation. Bearings stored to prevent contamination, belts kept out of UV light, shafts protected from physical damage — a part that's technically "in stock" but degraded when you need it is functionally the same as not having it at all (Augury, 2025).
Control access. Limiting the storeroom to authorized personnel, with clear roles for ordering, receiving, and issuing parts, keeps inventory accurate instead of becoming a free-for-all (Augury, 2025).
Keep it well-lit with a defined layout so the storeroom team can actually work efficiently, not just store things.

What system do you use to track it once it's organized?

Start simple and make it stick before adding complexity. A barcoding system is the most common starting point — scan items in and out, and you always have an accurate count without relying on memory or a clipboard (Martin Supply, 2024). Pair that with regularly scheduled inventory checks, a log of discrepancies, and prompt return of tools with updated records — the three habits that keep any tracking system honest over time instead of drifting out of date within a few months (Martin Supply, 2024). Regular cycle counts matter more than an annual full inventory — small, frequent checks catch discrepancies while they're still small (Maintainly, 2026).

How does AutoIC approach tool room and storeroom setup?

This falls under factory layout and workflow design, and it's often one of the most overlooked parts of a facility walkthrough. During a site visit, we look at how techs actually move to get parts during a repair — not just how the storeroom looks on a shelf plan — and identify where that process is costing real time. From there we help classify what's actually worth stocking based on criticality and lead time, set sensible min/max levels, and lay the physical space out so finding a part doesn't become its own five-minute job in the middle of an emergency repair. This connects directly to our packaging consumables work through Decker Tape Products too — the same logic of matching stock levels to real usage applies whether it's a spare bearing or a case of stretch film.

What's AutoIC's take on this?

A tool room doesn't need to be elaborate to be effective — it needs to be honest about what actually gets used and what actually matters if it fails. The plants that handle emergencies fastest usually aren't the ones with the biggest parts budget; they're the ones who knew, before the failure happened, exactly what they had and where it was.

If your storeroom feels more like a junk drawer than a system, that's a fast, high-value fix. Check out our FAQ for more on how we approach layout and workflow projects, or get in touch and we'll come take a look.

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ken@autoicllc.com

603-748-6216