Estimating Requirements for Aircraft Recoverable Spares and Depot Repair

This report describes the role of management adaptations such as lateral supply, cannibalization, withdrawals of assets from war readiness spares kits, and expeditied processing, handling, and transportation in improving logistics system performance in peacetime and wartime. It shows how these management initiatives can reduce the requirement for aircraft recoverable spares, although it does not quantify their costs. It suggests policies and strategies that will reduce the computed spares requirement and increase the effectiveness of the mix of spares procured. It also discusses the problem of estimating depot component repair requirements and recommends the use of DRIVE Distribution and Repair in Variable Environments, a computer-based repair prioritization mechanism, as the computing engine for a repair requirements estimation system. Extensions to that system are suggested to take explicit account of repair capacity constraints, budgetary requirements, the projected operating position of the stock fund, and estimated capability in terms of peacetime and wartime aircraft availability goals. The principal thrust of this research was to enhance understanding of the implications for requirements estimation demand uncertainty and logistics management adaptations to cope with it