Modeling of a Generic Cost-Efficient Spare Parts Inventory Management based on a Prognostics and Health Management Approach to Aircraft Maintenance

Abstract

The aviation sector is characterized by steadily increasing competitive and thus costreducing pressure, with aircraft maintenance representing a significant cost driver. Increasing digitalization and automation in the industry are also leading to new maintenance technologies, such as PHM (Prognostics and Health Management), in this area. These methods enable the determination of the condition as well as predictions about the remaining component lifetime and can contribute to decision-making in surrounding process fields. Spare parts logistics and inventory management are considered to be one of the ancillary process fields that can benefit from this technology. Based on the EOQ (Economic Order Quantity) concept widely used in inventory logistics, this paper deals with the modeling of a logistics model based on the predictive capability of a PHM system. The generic simulation framework developed can be applied to expendable parts as well as repairable parts through the implementation of a repair cycle. A simulation-inherent, iterative variation of the service level and the prognostic horizon, as a criterion of the technological maturity of the PHM system, lead to an optimization of the considered logistics cost. The application in a use case study, in which input cost distributions and demands are varied, leads to the quantification of logistics cost and the assessment of the savings potential by comparison with a conventional inventory management strategy according to the EOQ model.