challenge

Our client is an engineering services organisation that maintains a fleet of aircraft operating in Australia andaround the world. Their existing W&D network has been in place for over 10 years and our client wished todevelop a new W&D strategy that could continue to meet service needs and operating cost constraints.

● Equipment uptime is critical to customer promise and business success and materials availability mustsupport this

● The aircraft fleet is extensive and of varying size and age● Extensive warehousing facilities exist in east-coast capitals and demand exists in all capital and several

regional centres● Repair components circulate through Australian and overseas centre

HEAVY EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE ENGINEERING BUSINESS

CASE STUDY

background

www.gra.net.au

Warehousing &Distribution Network

GRA established a set of W&D “design principles” to guide the review, determined the nature & drivers(including repair locations) of expendable & rotable demand and outlined the impact new aircraft typeswould have on the network. In developing the strategy, GRA considered:

● warehouse ‘footprint and flows’● warehouse operations (in-house versus outsourced)● distribution (freight)● what transition costs would be required to achieve each of the options● the risks to aircraft availability presented by each alternate supply chain strategy dent

recommendations on vendor selection, project objectives assessment, and next steps

Head office110 Jolimont Road

East Melbourne VIC 3002Tel: (03) 9421 4611

Email: info@gra.net.auwww.gra.net.au

Melbourne | Sydney | Canberra | Brisbane

CASE STUDY

approach

#20

outcome

● Development of a range of alternate supply chain network strategies● A cost, benefits and risk comparison for each alternate supply chain network strategy● A recommendation for a preferred supply chain network strategy that will:● maintain the service promise;● reduce annual operating costs by 34%; and● reduce the target inventory by 5% (due to the reduced number of stocking nodes)