Spare parts allocation and inventory management for military aircraft components

Spare parts inventory management is one of the most critical aspects in the aeronautical industry, given the low failure rate of the components, their strategic importance and high stocking costs. Even if a large number of spare parts can generate high warehousing costs, the trade off with shortage costs may have a greater impact: the adoption of best-in-class inventory management techniques becomes crucial. On these considerations, the paper presents a model of spare parts allocation for the Italian Air Force with the aim of minimizing backorders and, at the same time, ensuring an availability of 99%. The methodology provides a spare parts allocation for a specific aircraft model according to the general requirements of the model. Furthermore, a specific algorithm for lateral supply has been integrated, considering the Erlang Traffic Theory, in order to select the best warehouse to which address a request in case of emergency, considering the service level and the stock out risk for each site. © 2010 Taylor & Francis Group.