Development of a global inventory management tool for spare parts in the machinery engineering industry. : application in the wafer production sector

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to develop a practical approach for spare parts inventory management. In the industrial context of capital goods production, the necessity to build efficient after sales services is twofold: maximizing the revenues through costs minimization and judicious management, and ensuring customer satisfaction. Within this vast field of activities, the management of spare parts is often neglected due to the lack of practical guidelines. In this prospect, the objective of the present thesis is to provide an assistance to choose and apply relevant techniques through the study of a real case study. It appears that possibilities are numerous, but not always applicable, as spare parts management mostly rely on data collection and treatment. The process is, however, always the same: multi-criteria classification, strategy mapping, demand forecasting, and inventory control. For each of these steps, methods are compared and analysed with a very pragmatic vision, the final objective being to implement an operative tool for the company related to this thesis. The practical application of the concept reveals that every choice includes a part of subjectivity, given the unpredictable aspect of spare parts demand. Nonetheless, the approach towards smart spare parts management is worked through, given the specificities of the case study. An emphasis is given on the introduction of accurate forecasting methods, whose impact on final benefits is most significant. The results provided by the tool highlight the inappropriateness of current practices as for spare parts inventory management. But the main outcome is the demonstration of potential benefits for the organisation in terms of sales and service level.