Effective PBLs Through Simultaneous Optimization and Simulation of Maintenance, Manpower, and Spare Parts

Abstract

The problem of determining the optimum repair strategy is sometimes called location-of-repair analysis, or LORA, while OPRAL is an analytical model for determining the optimal repair locations and spares allocations in a multi-level hierarchical support organization based on the spares optimization model OPUS10. The OPRAL optimization technique is based around the powerful concept of calculating the maximum function over all convex functions created from several different repair strategies in order to find the optimal one. The process of simultaneously optimizing LORA analysis, spare parts optimization and resource utilization is significant, hence why it is necessary to integrate the optimization techniques. These techniques can be instrumental in setting up and managing risk in Performance Based Logistics (PBL) contracts where a Product Support Manager (PSM) is responsible for a high level metric such as system availability, mission hours accomplished, etc., where optimizing all aspects of a system's operation is critical.