Spare parts inventory control for the maintenance of productive plants

This paper analyses a set of compares different methods to effectively manage spare parts inventory, presenting a case study relating to an Italian pasta producer. The work was divided into three phases: - in the first phase FMECA analysis was performed in order to classify all items on the basis of their criticality. - in the second phase ABC method was used to evaluate consumption rates of the spare parts. - Finally different re-order point methods were compared. Three demand modelling techniques and inventory policies are evaluated using real data: 1) Normal distribution, 2) Poisson distribution and 3) Gamma distribution. Economic Order Quantity method was used to define the purchase policy. The results showed that the normal distribution is not generally advised for modelling the demand of slow-moving items, for which a Poisson distribution is better recommended.