A simulation approach for spare parts demand forecasting and inventory management optimization

Today, the management of the spare parts is a very important problem for the producers companies of industrial mechanical plant. In this article, we develop and test a simulation approach, to forecast the demand of spare parts components during the lifetime of a complex product, such as an industrial plant. The model requires a preliminary phase, where the relevant data of the plant should be collected by the manufacturing company. Then, a specific computational process should be carried out. In the paper, the model is applied to a case example, referring to a hypothetical manufacturer of industrial plants, to demonstrate the model efficacy and its resolution capacity. Indeed, the application shows that the model proposed is able to identify the optimal level of service the company should set to manage the inventory of spare parts, i.e. the service level that minimizes the cost of spare parts inventory management. The study finally proposes the future developments of the model and its application on the actual industrial reality.