To tinker, evolution needs a supply of spare parts

Condition based spare parts supply

We consider a spare parts stock point that serves an installed base of machines. Each machine contains the same critical component, whose degradation behavior is described by a Markov process. We consider condition based spare parts supply, and show that an optimal, condition based inventory policy is 20% more efficient on average than a standard, state-independent base stock policy. We further...

Inventory management in a multi-echelon spare parts supply chain

In many industrial sectors, firms are dealing with a demand which is more and more uncertain often due to the supply chain structure. One of the most critical effects of demand uncertainty is the simultaneous increase of inventories and decrease of customer service. This work describes an integrated system for managing inventories in a multi-echelon spare parts supply chain, in which customers ...

Reducing Costs of Spare Parts Supply Systems via Static Priorities

We study static repair priorities in a system consisting of one repair shop and one stockpoint, where spare parts of multiple repairables are kept on stock to serve an installed base of technical systems. Demands for ready-for-use parts occur according to Poisson processes, and are accompanied by returns of failed parts. The demands are met from stock if possible, and otherwise they are backord...

Improving Air Force Purchasing and Supply Management of Spare Parts

This document was submitted as a dissertation in August 2003 in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the doctoral degree in public policy analysis at the RAND Graduate School. The faculty committee that supervised and approved the dissertation consisted of The RAND Graduate School dissertation series reproduces dissertations that have been approved by the student's dissertation committee....

Service differentiation in spare parts supply through dedicated stocks