Repairable part management

To support the operation of its fleet of over 400 aircraft, American Airlines maintains an inventory of spare repairable (rotable) aircraft parts. A PC-based decision support system, the Rotables Allocation and Planning System (RAPS), provides forecasts of rotable part demand, recommends least-cost allocations of parts to airport locations, and calculates the availability level associated with the optimal allocation of each part. RAPS is controlled through a series of menus which offer options for part allocation, data manipulation, report generation, and sensitivity analysis. By identifying under- and over-allocations of parts, as well as by recommending part redistribution, RAPS has provided a multi-million dollar benefit to American Airlines.