Suitability of MRP II to material planning for component repair at Naval Aviation Depot, North Island.

Abstract

Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) is being implemented at Naval Aviation Depot, North Island (NADEP NI) to combat chronic material deficiencies. MRP II is a planning tool designed for scheduling manufacturing activities with known demand. NADEP NI is a job shop component repair facility with component forecast error ranging up to 800 percent, making the suitability of MRP II questionable. This research studies material planning at NADEP NI to identify forecast error, probability of part replacement error, and material lead-time variability in order to make recommendations for success in implementing MRP II. Fifteen percent of requisitions for work-in-process components are between one and two years old. If lead-times are reduced to a maximum of one year, the planning horizon can be reduced. Work-in-process inventories can also be reduced by 2.3 million dollars based on 26 components sampled from the top revenue generators. Currently material is ordered five weeks prior to the repair quarter. Ordering material when the forecast is generated can reduce work-in-process inventories by 6.2 million dollars for the sample components