THE COSTS OF ALTERNATIVE AIR BASE STOCKING AND REQUISITIONING POLICIES,

A mathematical and statistical study of the supply operations at a typical Air Force base is made. The objective of the study is to determine the effect upon support cost of different logistics policies, involving changes in safety level and requisitioning frequency. This effect is found to vary according to the price and demand rate of the item being considered, and the study indicates that large monetary savings can be realized by adopting different stocking and requisitioning policies dependent upon item demand and price. Thus, the study indicates that it is more economical to have items costing under 10 requisitioned from the depot every three or six months, rather than every month, even if obsolescence charges on base stocks are as high as 50 per cent per year. The study has also indicated that standby stockage of cheap under 10, low demand items is desirable because the cost of such stockage tends to be less than the costs incurred by premium supply action when a demand for such an item arises. Author