Multi-Facility Inventory System Management for Repairable Items

Abstract

Multi-Facility inventory system for repairable items is used for the management of critical spare parts for durable equipment where a repair facility is considered along with several operating facilities. This inventory system is very useful in industries in which there is a constant and huge demand for repaired and new spare parts from multiple operating facilities. It is exceptionally vital for maintenance, repair and overhaul organizations to enhance the spare parts inventory management by modeling the on-hand inventory of new and repaired spare parts. Nowadays, simulation methods have become promising methods to investigate and optimize real-world processes. It is anticipated that the appropriate development of simulation models for managing repaired and new spare parts of durable equipment in industry can result in healthy stocks of repaired and new spare parts and cost savings. This research describes the development of promising simulation models for multi-facility inventory system of repairable items in a centralized inventory environment considering the probabilistic nature of the system, with emphasis on the applicability of the models to different industries where multiple operating facilities in a region undergo spare parts repair whereby they send their faulty spare parts to a repair facility. Such models allow investigating the inventory systems for repairable items in a flexible and risk-free manner to effectively design the processes of repairing faulty spare parts and procuring new spare parts considering different ordering policies, and, furthermore, achieving sufficient fill rate and service level of spare parts with minimum inventory investment. A case study along with its results, sensitivity analysis, and managerial insights are presented in this research to illustrate the applicability and suitability of the proposed simulation models. The key results are the valuable managerial insights provided by the proposed simulation models into the complex inventory system of repairable items. These managerial insights are extremely important for achieving a maintenance, repair and overhaul organization's objectives such as minimizing inventory costs and maximizing service levels.