Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) - Spares & Rotables Inventory Management
Background
The RAAF initiated a project to identify the opportunities associated with improving service levels, reducing inventory costs and balancing assets across the distribution network. An improved process was defined for delivery of the RAAF's opportunities, and the adoption of an inventory optimisation system / APS was identified as a fundamental part of the solution. After an exhaustive worldwide software selection process was undertaken, GAINS was selected as the preferred system.
Challenge
The RAAF has the single largest inventory environment in Australia.
Approach
The RAAF has been using GAINS to manage the break down spares for aviation equipment since 1996.
GRA won a multi-year contract to provide inventory management services and implement GAINS, a best-of-breed demand management and inventory optimisation system, across the whole of the Defence Forces.
Some of the key results delivered to the RAAF include:
The RAAF initiated a project to identify the opportunities associated with improving service levels, reducing inventory costs and balancing assets across the distribution network. An improved process was defined for delivery of the RAAF's opportunities, and the adoption of an inventory optimisation system / APS was identified as a fundamental part of the solution. After an exhaustive worldwide software selection process was undertaken, GAINS was selected as the preferred system.
Challenge
The RAAF has the single largest inventory environment in Australia.
- 70 locations and 600,000 items commenced with $675m in inventory
- local and overseas suppliers with long lead times
- slow moving items
- 140 planners
- MRO environment
Approach
The RAAF has been using GAINS to manage the break down spares for aviation equipment since 1996.
GRA won a multi-year contract to provide inventory management services and implement GAINS, a best-of-breed demand management and inventory optimisation system, across the whole of the Defence Forces.
Some of the key results delivered to the RAAF include:
- $186m reduction in inventory (down from $675m to $489m)
- 42% reduction of the number of items held in RAAF warehouses
- 15+ percentage point increase in service levels
- 67% reduction in understocked items, 47% increase in balanced items and 37% reduction in overstocked items
- 70% reduction in the starting inventory management workload
- Importantly – successful culture change
“We saved $14 million in six months… here are the graphs. We’re used to being promised these kinds of numbers; we’re just not used to having them delivered.” Wing Commander, Royal Australian Airforce (RAAF)
“The RAAF has reduced their inventory by $186 million whilst simultaneously increasing service levels (understocks reduced by 67%).”
Peter Burgess, GRA Partner
“We’ve noticed a real improvement in the availability of spares of the last 12 months.”
Maintenance & Engineering Supervisor, RAAF
“Our workload is about 30% of what it was when we turned GAINS on.”
Spares Inventory Manager, RAAF