Simulation model of spare parts management in a commercial pool contract

In the aviation context, the process of determining the optimum stock level for spare parts is a complex optimization problem, because of the high stock costs and the high availability requirements. In step with the continuous evolution of the market and the ever-increasing related competitiveness, nowadays a new trend in contracts’ structure is emerging, the so-called pool contract. This contract envisages two main actors, a supplier and a customer, in a multi-echelon structure with generally the possibility of a multi-transportation supply strategy, related to the items criticality. This research aims to develop an object-oriented simulation framework that captures the fundamental elements for modelling the stock of a customer airline involved in a pool contract. The model is applied on a pool contract of a European airline, in order to validate the results obtained by the application of the classical METRIC model with respect to availability constraints.