Cost and Operational Evaluations of Centralized vs. Distributed Class IX Inventories
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Authors
Atkinson, Michael P.
Kress, Moshe
Subjects
logistics
inventory
customer wait time
centralized vs. distributed
inventory
customer wait time
centralized vs. distributed
Advisors
Date of Issue
2019-12-31
Date
Publisher
Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School
Language
Abstract
The United States Marine Corps (USMC) seeks to improve its logistics operations for repair parts at the Division (Marine Expeditionary Force - MEF) level. USMC Installation & Logistics has partnered with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to investigate whether increased collaboration with DLA could make the USMC supply depots more efficient and effective. Efficiency is measured by reduced inventory at the Divisional Supply Management Units (SMU) and effectiveness is measured by reduced customer wait time. The goal is to find the best efficiency-effectiveness balance. The dilemma is between distributed inventory at the SMUs and concentrated inventory at the DLA. Based on demand data collected at I MEF over a period of 20 months, we developed a simulation mimicking the requisition-supply cycle. The simulation, implemented on 6 repair parts, facilitates an analysis of the distribution-concentration balance regarding these items. The analysis produces plots visualizing efficiency-effectiveness tradeoffs, which can help decision-makers choose the right distribution-concentration balance. We comment about the results and offer some recommendations. For the analyzed repair parts, we show that the I MEF SMU can reduce the inventory levels of several parts, and relying on DLA support, while maintaining adequate customer wait time.
Type
Technical Report
Description
NPS NRP Technical Report
Series/Report No
Department
Organization
Identifiers
NPS Report Number
NPS-19-M093-A
Sponsors
HQMC Installations and Logistics (I&L)
Funder
This research is supported by funding from the Naval Postgraduate School, Naval Research Program (PE 0605853N/2098). https://nps.edu/nrp
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)
Chief of Naval Operations (CNO)
Format
Citation
Distribution Statement
Approved for public release. Distribution is unlimited.
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.