Background

The client requested a review of their current maintenance, storage and distribution network and future support requirements to identify opportunities to reduce whole of life support costs , increase network capacity, improve customer service delivery and inform infrastructure requirements.

Challenge

• To optimise a network fragmented by autonomous business units with mutually exclusive budgets and no ‘end-to-end’ performance management.
• To maintain support to obsolescent and obsolete electronic equipment at a reduced total network cost.
• To increase network capacity for the support of additional electronic equipment  (new technology) at a reduced total network cost.

Approach

A project was commissioned to identify the network capacity and cost reduction opportunities in the following streams:

People

• Interviews with staff, manufacturers and service providers to gauge the balance between process and practice and the culture of the industry sector players.

Process

• Analysis of support plans, service agreements and contracts within and between business units and the broader industry community. •Future delivery models for Maintenance, Storage & Distribution.

System

• Data - extraction and analysis of Corporate Maintenance, Storage and Distribution data; merging of the data to form a network perspective.
• Performance - end-to-end review of the supply chain.
• Technology –obsolescent/obsolete and new system management

Outcome

• Visibility of end-to-end network performance; this highlighted the need to:
  • change  from a linear network to a multi-echelon network with a potential reduction in Time to Make Serviceable of 55%
  • remove repetition of maintenance effort by moving configuration and diagnostic data with the equipment with a potential reduction in  average Actual Repair Time per repair of 21% for Medium Grade Repair and 12% for Heavy Grade Repair
  • reduce network support to obsolescent/obsolete equipment by reducing the asset liability to match actual demand for the asset
  • enable cost savings in business units of the network to offset increased costs in other business units where the net benefit is optimised
• Infrastructure for new technology equipment will require less volume per item but be of greater complexity.