Why Parts Availability Is One of the Biggest Issues in Our Industry - And How We’re Addressing It

Delays, missed fixes, and repeat visits often come down to one thing: parts. Here’s how Smarter Appliances is solving the supply problem for faster, more reliable repairs across London.

If you’ve ever waited weeks for a simple washing machine repair, the cause was likely not the engineer, but the part.

In the appliance repair industry, parts availability is one of the most common reasons for delays. It frustrates landlords, tenants, property managers, and service providers alike. But unlike the weather or traffic, this is a problem that can be solved, with the right systems in place.

At Smarter Appliances, we’ve made it our priority to tackle the parts problem head-on. Here’s how we do it differently.

The Problem: Unpredictable Stock, Unreliable Supply Chains

The UK appliance industry includes hundreds of models from dozens of brands. Even within the same model line, a single part might vary by version or region.

Many service providers operate on a reactive basis, only ordering a part after diagnosing the fault. That often means waiting 2–10 days for suppliers to deliver. Worse, some parts go out of stock without notice, especially for discontinued or niche models.

When that happens, it’s not just the appliance that’s out of action, tenants are inconvenienced, landlords get frustrated, and agents are stuck in the middle.

Our Approach: Anticipate, Stock, and Streamline

At Smarter Appliances, we handle parts differently:

✔️ Trend-Based Stocking

We analyse usage patterns across thousands of jobs to determine the most common failures by brand, model, and season. This data allows us to pre-stock high-probability parts across our engineer vans and warehouse locations.

✔️ Integrated Supplier Links

Our system connects directly to key suppliers for live stock visibility and ordering. This means we know in real time whether a part is available, and we can place orders without delay, often while the engineer is still on site.

✔️ Dedicated Parts Team

We don’t leave engineers to chase suppliers. Our in-house parts team manages sourcing, back-orders, and alternatives. This frees engineers to focus on repairs, not paperwork.