Review and analysis of Selected Items Management (SIM) inventory program aboard US surface ships

Abstract

The purpose of this MBA project is to carry out an exploratory study and conduct an analysis to determine if there are any correlations between shipboard supply management practices/priorities and SIM Issue Effectiveness rates. Shipboard SIM inventories range from approximately 300 to 350 line items on average per ship. While SIM items constitute only a small portion of the ship's entire COSAL spare parts inventory, they are critical to the ship's material condition and to its preventive and corrective maintenance programs. Consequently, effective and efficient SIM inventory control is crucial and has a significant impact on the ship's mission readiness. However, surface ships reporting their monthly inventory and performance data to the Type Commander indicate some of the ships are not meeting their SIM Issue Effectiveness goals. The project investigated the variances to determine if they can be explained using correlations with other variables. In addition, the authors analyzed SIM inventory to determine if a Business Processing Reengineering (BPR) through virtual stock consolidation with a shift in emphasis from individual shipboard support to a more global level can result in risk mitigation of SIM stock outs. The project compared common commercial inventory control practices to shipboard inventory procedures to examine possible application of best practices.