Guides · 1 Nov 2026

Stores and spares control for sugar mills: a checklist

Good stores control means every item has one code, a known criticality, a reorder level and a traceable record of each receipt and issue. In a sugar mill, the priority is to have critical spares on the shelf before crushing starts and to keep chemicals and packing material from running out mid-season.

Why a mill store needs its own rules

A sugar mill runs in a season. Repairs peak in the off-season, purchases follow, and then the plant runs for months with little room to wait for a part. Once crushing starts, a missing bearing or seal can hold up cane on the yard.

The opposite failure is quieter. Spares bought years ago for machines since replaced sit on the racks and tie up cash. Stores control has to deal with both.

Classify before you set any limits

Three common methods answer three different questions. ABC ranks items by value. VED ranks them by criticality: vital, essential or desirable. FSN ranks them by movement: fast, slow or non-moving.

Use ABC to direct purchasing effort and VED to protect the plant. A cheap seal on a vital pump stays a vital item, whatever its value.

Group	Examples	How to control it
Vital spares	Mill bearings, boiler tubes, turbine and pump parts	Hold stock against lead time. Review before each season.
Capital spares	Spare rotor, gearbox, standby motor	Tag to the machine. Review accounting treatment.
Process chemicals	Lime, sulphur, phosphoric acid, flocculant	Plan from expected crush. Issue oldest stock first.
Lubricants and consumables	Mill grease, gear oil, belts, filter cloth	Reorder level and monthly usage review.
Packing material	Jute and plastic bags, stitching thread	Link to expected sugar production by grade.
General items	Tools, hardware, office stores	Keep lean. Buy on demand.

Setting reorder levels

The standard formula is: reorder level = daily usage x lead time in days + safety stock.

As an illustration, if an item is used at 2 units a day, the supplier takes 15 days and safety stock is 10, the reorder level is 40 units.

The formula suits items with steady use, such as chemicals and lubricants. It works poorly for a part that fails once in several years. Set the minimum stock for those by hand, based on how long the plant would be down without the part and how long a replacement takes to arrive.

The checklist

Give each item one code. Merge duplicates created under different names.
Record make, part number, unit and bin location for each item.
Link each spare to the machines it fits.
Mark each item as vital, essential or desirable, with the chief engineer's sign-off.
Set minimum, maximum and reorder levels for items in regular use.
Finish the critical spares review early enough for the longest lead time before the season.
Receive goods against a purchase order, with a counted and inspected goods receipt.
Keep the person who raises a request separate from the person who buys and the person who receives.
Match order, goods receipt and invoice before payment.
Issue only against an authorised slip naming the department, machine and cost centre.
Take back unused and repairable items with a return entry.
Keep repaired and scrap items apart from new stock.
Store chemicals by type and label each batch.
Count vital and high-value items more often, and count the rest on a cycle.
Review slow and non-moving items each year, and decide to keep, use, sell or write off.
Have a second person approve count adjustments.

Two points for the chief accountant

Spares are not all inventory. Under Ind AS 16, major spare parts, stand-by equipment and servicing equipment are property, plant and equipment when they meet the definition, typically when you expect to use them for more than one period. Other spares stay in inventory under Ind AS 2 and are charged as they are consumed. Settle the line for your mill with your auditor, and tag these items in the item master.

Physical counts also feed the audit report. CARO 2020 requires the auditor to report on the coverage and procedure of verification, and on discrepancies of 10% or more in aggregate for each class of inventory. So keep your stores classes defined and count records complete.

A note on jute bags

Packing norms affect what stores must buy. Cabinet norms for jute year 2023-24 required 20% of sugar to be packed in jute bags, and a report from October 2026 says the requirement has been extended to 31 January 2027. Confirm the percentage in the current order before you plan your bag purchases.

Where SugarOS fits

SugarOS covers stores issues, reorder levels and physical counts with approval. Asset and maintenance schedules are built too.

Frequently asked questions

How many spares should we treat as vital?

There is no standard share. Ask one question of each item: if this failed today with no spare in hand, would crushing or a safety system stop? Keep the list short enough for the chief engineer to review it each year.

Are machinery spares inventory or fixed assets?

Under Ind AS 16, spares that meet the definition of property, plant and equipment are capitalised. Others are inventory and are expensed as consumed. Companies on other accounting standards should check their own framework with their auditor.

When should the stores count be done?

Many items are easiest to count in the off-season, once repair issues have slowed. Vital and high-value items need more frequent cycle counts during the year, because errors in them cost the most.

What should we do with spares for machines we no longer run?

Check whether they fit any other plant. If not, take them to a review committee and decide on sale or write-off with approval. Keep the record, so that the same items are not bought again.

Sources

Talk to SugarOS