| Article ID: | iaor20108649 |
| Volume: | 10 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| Start Page Number: | 60 |
| End Page Number: | 81 |
| Publication Date: | Dec 2011 |
| Journal: | International Journal of Operational Research |
| Authors: | Cassady C Richard, Rossetti Manuel D, Tovia Fernando, Brooks Robert M |
| Keywords: | queues: applications, heuristics: genetic algorithms |
Many organisations purchase equipment that is subject to unpredictable failures to carry out their services. When these breakdowns occur, maintenance technicians restore the equipment in a timely fashion either through repair or the installation of spare parts. In this research, the behaviour of the service parts logistics system (SPLS) is approximated with a modified M/G/1 HOL queuing model. Then, the costs structure of the SPLS is defined and approximated with a mathematical model that captures the interdependence of the inventory policy and the technician assignment. A heuristic 'assign locations' is implemented based on the modified M/G/1 HOL queuing, the costs model and a genetic algorithm to search for the near‐minimum cost technician assignment given a fixed technician's vehicle inventory policy.