Joint planning for spare parts inventory and preventive maintenance in a multi-echelon network. (2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Shi, Yue; Xiang, Yisha; Jin, Tongdan; Li, Yueqing
• Is Part Of: International journal of inventory research. Volume 3:Number 3(2016)
• Page Start: 263
• Page End: 281
• Publication Date: 2016
• Subjects: spare parts inventory -- preventative maintenance -- performance contracting -- multi-echelon networks -- simulation -- inventory management -- inventory cost -- target availability -- incentive mechanisms; Inventories -- Periodicals; Inventories -- Mathematical models -- Periodicals; Inventory control -- Periodicals; 658.787
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1746-6962

Abstract

Spare parts inventory and preventative maintenance play a vital role in ensuring operational availability of capital equipment. This paper investigates the cost-reliability benefits from jointly optimising preventive maintenance and spare parts inventory. Due to the problem complexity and the mathematical intractability, we propose a simulation framework to tackle this joint planning problem in a multi-echelon network. The general simulation model developed in this paper allows a closer-to-reality analysis of joint decisions on spare parts inventory and preventive maintenance for a fleet of equipment with increasing failure rates. Both block- and age-based preventive maintenance policies are considered. We also adopt a performance-based contracting approach to analysing the trade-off between inventory cost and target availability in different incentive mechanisms. Numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the joint policies.