What Are Consumables in Business?

Many industrial products require the regular consumption of raw supplies. Consumables are any non-durable good or product that get used up through operation of your equipment. From chemicals in medical lab machinery to wire elements in welding equipment, your end users rely on these components to ensure uptime and productivity in their operations. For owners, these consumables represent a necessary cost; for suppliers, they are a key source of revenue. 

Manufacturers often compete with third-party vendors to supply consumables for their own product offerings. But these manufacturers have a potential competitive advantage, in the form of . 

Building capabilities into products offers multiple benefits, from cutting downtime to boosting efficiency. But monitoring can also be used to perfect consumable fulfillment. For customers this means never facing downtime due to supply shortages, while avoiding excess inventory costs. For manufacturers, it represents a unique competitive offering that comes with high-margin, recurring revenue opportunities.