Material Planning for Remanufacturing Defense Assets

Abstract

This paper develops a planning system for depots remanufacturing components of defense assets, such as helicopters, armored cars, and so forth. These depots take in used assets, disassemble them, repair, upgrade and reassemble them to supply US troops and, occasionally, foreign military services of allied nations. Uncertainty in the supply of used components, the yield of good parts, and the demand for remanufactured products makes this a difficult process to manage. This article describes a multi-period material planning system for the process. It covers everything from collection to final delivery. The system is based on material requirements planning, a method familiar to many managers. It uses linear programming to develop purchase recommendations and to schedule the disassembly of the used components. The researcher held meetings with remanufacturing practitioners to set the system parameters and to evaluate the approach.