Improving the Army's Management of Reparable Spare Parts

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This report addresses initial efforts to expand the Army's logistics-process improvement efforts initiative by applying an integrative approach to improving the responsiveness, reliability, and efficiency of the Army's national-level inventory management and depot-level component-repair processes. The goal of these processes is to repair sufficient assets to replenish serviceable inventories to meet the needs of requirements determined to support equipment readiness. The examination of the reparable-management process identified three key issues that need to be addressed: (1) the impact of uncertainty and variability in customer demands on long-term planning forecasts; (2) the need for increased emphasis on near-term replanning for execution; and (3) the inability of repair responsiveness to meet changing requirements. A case study of the M88A1 armored recovery vehicle engine is used to illustrate the integrated process-improvement approach, and a variety of alternatives for improving both planning and repair activities are presented. It is suggested that a pilot effort be undertaken to develop and test alternative approaches to the implementation of improvement initiatives. The results obtained in a pilot implementation could be measured, rules could be adjusted, and confidence would be developed in the selected improvement approaches.