Management and Operations Commons^™

Investigating Supply Parts Delivery Delay From Supply Depot To King Khaled Air Base In Royal Saudi Air Force, Rashed S. Alkhathami

Theses and Dissertations

Aircraft supply parts is an important factor in preparing the aircraft to do its mission. Due to delayed delivery of parts or inefficient delivery process, time may be lost waiting for aircraft supply parts, causing mission delay or failure. By tackling the delivery delay causes we can insure improvement on delivery process. In order to gather data for this thesis two different tools were used, aircraft parts data and an interview. Data was gathered from the F15 maintenance and supply squadrons in the Royal Saudi Air Force. Results of this research showed diverting in the main duty of supply depot …

Qualitative Findings From The Practice Of Outsourcing By The Aviation Technical Services Industry In Northern Europe: Comparison With Literature, Jukka Holkeri

Journal of Aviation Technology and Engineering

The outsourcing of maintenance and other technical services is a trend in both military and civil aviation. This article uses input from real outsourcing cases in Northern Europe to verify previous literature findings and to introduce new viewpoints to fill an identified research gap.

Interviews of deeply involved individuals from six cases were selected and analyzed using the Delphi method. The findings were synthesized using a framework that articulates contexts, observed outcomes, and generative mechanisms.

Many of the key literature findings were verified by this case analysis, but there were also some contradictions and new observations that had not been …

Resilient Maintenance Infrastructure: Dynamic Repair Network Designs To Effectively Manage Supply Chain Disruptions, David W. Wallace Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Supply chains are facing numerous changes contributing to their increase in complexity and vulnerability to disruptions. Subsequently, decision-makers lack a transparent, generalizable tool to quantify supply chain resilience and assess additional resilience investments. This research facilitates a more profound understanding of the intricacies and interrelation of supply chain nodes and constructs. It integrates the Area under the Curve (AUC) metric to quantify performance or any organizational measure of competitive advantage amid a disruption. Due to its structural resemblance to various organizational platforms, the subset United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 engine repair and supply network is modeled employing discrete-event simulation. …

Investigation Of An Avionics Part Deficiencies In Royal Saudi Air Force Fleets, Nasser S. Alanazi

Theses and Dissertations

The Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) is experiencing a shortage in certain avionics parts due to a lack of reliability. This issue is causing a supply chain disturbance in the F1-15 fleet and the Hawk fleet. One of the factors behind this problem is the environmental effects in Saudi Arabia .The study will investigate and analyze the methods for the Improvement Cycle Processes and the Quality Management within the RSAF repair cycle. Finding show that, the discrepancies are rising during summer and fall time due to the environment change, Other finding were addressed in the study.

Resilient Aircraft Sustainment: Quantifying Resilience Through Asset And Capacity Allocation, Zachary B. Shannon

Theses and Dissertations

Decision makers lack a clear, generalizable method to quantify how additional investment in inventory and capacity equates to additional levels of resilience. This research facilitates a deeper understanding of the intricacies and complex interconnectedness of organizational supply chains by monetarily quantifying changes in network resilience. The developed Area under the Curve metric (AUC) is used to quantify the level of demand that each asset allocation can meet during a disruptive event. Due to its applicability across multiple domains, the USAF F-16 repair network in the Pacific theater (PACAF) is modeled utilizing discrete event simulation and used as the illustrating example. …

Sortie-Based Aircraft Component Demand Rate To Predict Requirements, Thomas R. O'Neal

Theses and Dissertations

Weapon System Sustainment (WSS) costs are growing at an increasing rate despite the vast efforts to reduce them. Researchers have attributed much of the cost increase to inaccurate demand forecasts for weapon system spare parts. In 2011, the forecast to sustain all United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft was 19% accurate and WSS costs per year have continuously increased. The purpose of this study is to explore a parsimonious change to aircraft component forecasting to reduce costly forecast error. This study substitutes flying hours with sorties for the purpose of demand forecasting. Many F-16 and B-52 spare parts are evaluated …

Inherent Jeopardy Of Performance Based Contracting Metrics: A Simulation Experiment, Daniel Cherobini

Theses and Dissertations

There is a growing trend across the world to adopt Performance Based Contracting strategies to support logistics systems. Using these policies, contract payments are strongly related to the performance achieved compared to prespecified metrics. However, managers are not always confident on what are the most suitable performance goals to use in these agreements. As a consequence, contractors struggle to deliver the desired performance results, while aircraft fleets experience an increase in support costs. And when the results are inadequate, leaders are tempted to impose even more performance targets to contractors, willing to exercise more control over the support organization. In …

Efficiency Analysis Of A Congested Brazilian Airport Applying Slots Optimization Control: Congonhas Airport Case, Mariana Franco B. Mendes, Rafael Roco De Araujo, Ana Paula Beck Da Silva Etges, Massoud Bazargan

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The current slot allocation mechanism in Brazil, based on the International Air Transport Association (IATA) rules, and its supplementary local regulation The National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC), displays a few issues and limitations (e.g. slot misuse, allocation inefficiencies). Such issues are particularly present in the case of busy airports that works near their maximum capacity for major parts of the day. This inefficiency problem is generated because of the complexity of slot allocation added to the limited decision support available for the Brazilian system. This study focuses on the implementation of an optimal slot model, based on IATA regulations with …

Order Fulfillment Errors And Military Aircraft Readiness, Michael Weber, Daniel Steeneck, William Cunningham

Faculty Publications

This paper aims to measure the effect of supply discrepancy reports (SDRs) on military aircraft readiness metrics, including aircraft availability, not mission capable supply (NMCS) hours, cannibalizations and mission-impaired capability awaiting parts (MICAP) hours.

Monthly SDR, NMCS, aircraft cannibalizations and MICAP data from 2009 to 2018 are analyzed using linear regression and independent samples t-tests to examine whether discrepant shipments negatively impact aircraft readiness.

Taking Off In Africa: Critical Elements Of Aircraft Engine Manufacturer Engagement That Can Affect Airline Safety Performance, Nathan Michael Woods

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is a term used in many industries to describe a company that produces parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. In the aviation industry, the aircraft engine OEM refers to the company the manufactures engines powering the aircraft. The OEM manufactures the engine, defines the required maintenance to operate the engines, and recommends product modifications. Product modifications are recommended to improve product safety, durability, reliability, and cost of ownership and are formally communicated through issuance of service bulletins. Properly performing the required maintenance and adopting service bulletins is an important element of maintaining …

A Study On Spare Aircraft In Brazilian Airlines, Clarissa Pinheiro Pereira, Eduardo Sakashita, Eliudes Del Grande, Guilherme Bevilacqua

Graduate Student Works

All around the globe, the airlines struggle to sustain profitability. They are deeply affected by the region’s economy. It goes from the fuel price and exchange rate to the level of employment and average salary. That makes it imperative to control the cost, and also to balance very well the cost and level of service. Aircraft utilization is one KPI that measures productivity. Once the airline has a high aircraft utilization, it means that the resource has been productive, hence more cost-efficient.

On the other hand, flight cancelations and delays result in costs and passengers’ dissatisfaction. In Brazil, there is …

Evaluation Of Rsaf Airworthiness And Applicability, Majed M. Altowairqi

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on evaluation of Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) airworthiness processes and their applicability. The current RSAF airworthiness process is in accordance with internationally recognized best practice in the area of military aviation, this is achieved by benchmarking against European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards. Airworthiness policy for the RSAF is developed on the basis that it will be as civil as possible and as military as necessary. For the purpose of this research, the current RSAF airworthiness process will be benchmarked against the United States Air Force (USAF) airworthiness process. That …

Flightline Heroics And The Façade Of A Healthy Common Support Equipment Fleet, Benjamin D. Bobic

Theses and Dissertations

Access to serviceable support equipment enables aircraft maintenance crews the ability to efficiently keep assigned aircraft safe and mission capable. Current Air Force policy does not require formal management and enterprise fleet health reporting of serialized support equipment. As such, articulating funding requirements to replace equipment has been a challenge for equipment managers. To better articulate support equipment requirements, equipment managers need quantifiable support equipment data. A previous study examined the relationship between aircraft availability and support equipment availability. While finding no significant correlation, the author identifies the practices of "Frankensteining" and "Beg-Borrow-Steal" as possible reasons for the absence of …

A Comparative Analysis Of Three Major Transfer Airports In Northeast Asia Focusing On Incheon International Airport Using A Conjoint Analysis, Tae Won Chung, Yong Joo Lee, Hyun Mi Jang

Finance and Supply Chain Faculty Scholarship

Due mainly to the privatization and commercialization of airline companies and deregulation of the aviation rules, the demand for air transport has continuously been increasing. Airport authorities state that transfer passengers, who contribute to the large portion of the airports’ profits, are gaining much more importance, particularly in the Northeast Asia region where the air transport industry is very vital. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the competitiveness of IIA (Incheon International Airport) with other major airports located in Northeast Asia in passenger transfers made between Southeast Asia and China to North America using Conjoint Analysis. Results have indicated that …

A New Way To Improve Logistics Efficiency And Aircraft-Onground Recovery, Katia Regina Goncalves, Erica Maria Dias Ferreira Cruz Grudzinski, Fabio Pinto, Carlos Alberto De Queiroz, Gilson Macedo Dos Santos

Graduate Student Works

The objective of this project was to bring more efficiency to logistics, improving time of Aircraft-on-Ground (AOG) recovery and developing possible saving for airlines operations. There proposed goal was to develop a system that would allow airlines to easily visualize an available space at the aircraft cargo bay on a desired flight and book its company materials (COMAT) on it, still respecting all appropriate regulation and the final availability of space.

This project was inspired by an existing system called MyIDTravel that allows jointed airline’s personnel to buy available tickets with low fares. The objective was to develop something similar …

Service Improvement And Cost Reduction For Airlines: Optimal Policies For Managing Arrival And Departure Operations Under Uncertainty, Heng Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

Annual U.S. air travel demand has been growing steadily by 4-5% over the last decade, and it is estimated that the demand will nearly double in the next twenty years. It has also been estimated by the International Civil Aviation Organization that global demand for commercial aircraft will increase at an average annual rate of 4.1% by 2034 (IATA, 2014). However, airport expansions and aviation infrastructure upgrades have not kept pace with the increase in air traffic demand, as only 3% of all the new airport projects around the world are planned in the U.S. (CAPA, 2015). Thus, the operation …

Applying Lean To The Ac-130 Maintenance Process For The Royal Saudi Air Force, Fisal A. Alzahrani

Theses and Dissertations

The ideas expressed in this research come from the researchers experiences working in the AC-130 maintenance squadron in the Royal Saudi Air Force. The AC-130 maintenance process is not currently being used as effectively as it could be to make AC-130 fully mission capable. That can be done by improving communication, reducing distances needed to move or transport anything during the maintenance process and by efficient use of the available qualified workforces, tools and equipment. Consideration is given to applying an existing management technique to the Royal Saudi Air Forces AC-130 Maintenance Squadrons. The selected technique is the Lean management …

Bio-Fuel Alternatives In South African Airways (Saa) Operations - Is It An Effective Response To Vulnerability Over Carbon Taxes And Penalty?, Daniel Kwasi Adjekum

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

The paper did a comparative analysis of the carbon emission and European Union Emission Trading Surcharges (EU ETS) of South African Airways (SAA) current fleet that used aviation jet A1 fuel and the same fleet if it had used a 25% bio-fuel ‘drop in’ for the European routes within the first quarter of the 2014 flying year (FY 14). Operational data in terms of the flight scheduled, aircraft type, total time enroute, route stage length, passenger estimates were obtained through SAA’s flight operations website. An independent t–test was conducted to compare means of the emissions. The mean carbon dioxide …

Bio-Fuel Alternatives In South African Airways (Saa) Operations - Is It An Effective Response To Vulnerability Over Carbon Taxes And Penalty?, Daniel Kwasi Adjekum

Aviation Faculty Publications

The paper did a comparative analysis of the carbon emission and European Union Emission Trading Surcharges (EU ETS) of South African Airways (SAA) current fleet that used aviation jet A1 fuel and the same fleet if it had used a 25% bio-fuel ‘drop in’ for the European routes within the first quarter of the 2014 flying year (FY 14). Operational data in terms of the flight scheduled, aircraft type, total time enroute, route stage length, passenger estimates were obtained through SAA’s flight operations website. An independent t–test was conducted to compare means of the emissions. The mean carbon dioxide …

Aerospace Renaissance – Ripe For Research To Impact The Industry, Constantine M. Koursaris, Brig. Gen. Robert E. Mansfield Jr. (Ret.)

Aviation / Aeronautics / Aerospace International Research Conference

The Center for Aviation and Aerospace Leadership (CAAL) was founded in 2008 to capture, create, and share relevant information on leadership in the aviation and aerospace industry.

The AIR is developed and published in collaboration with the Aerospace Industries Association and includes:

• Information on the status of aerospace manufacturing in the United States and state of the economy

• An in-depth review of sales across the various sectors of the industry, employment trends, key international trade statistics, financial information on the industry & major aerospace firms, trends to watch, and a forecast for the future based on a review …

A Simulation Approach To Airline Cost Benefit Analysis, Massoud Bazargan, David Lange, Luyen Tran, Zhiyuan Zhou

Management, Marketing and Operations - Daytona Beach

In this paper we conduct a cost benefit analyses using simulation for an Airline. This study pertains to using Towbarless Towing Vehicles (commonly referred to as supertugs) to transport aircraft to and from the terminal to airline’s maintenance hangar facility at their hub. This study attempts to investigate the possibility of reducing costs through saving jet fuel by adopting supertugs and identify if their high purchasing costs are justified. This study adopts simulation to analyze the annual savings by studying the numbers needed, as well as the utilization and operation cost for these supertugs. The results are very encouraging, enabling …

Towards A Single European Sky, Yael Gruksha-Cockayne, Bert De Reyck

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We describe an integrated decision-making framework and model that we developed to aid EUROCONTROL, the European air traffic management organization, in its vital role of constructing a single unified European sky. Combining multicriteria decision analysis with large-scale optimization methods, such as integer programming and column generation using branch and price, our model facilitates the process by which the numerous European aviation stakeholders evaluate and select technological enhancements to the European air traffic management system. We consider multiple objectives and potential disagreements by stakeholders regarding the impact of proposed system enhancements and allow for different priorities for each key performance area. …

Hazardous Material Cargo Frustration At Military Aerial Ports Of Embarkation, Niel E. Christensen

Theses and Dissertations

Since military units often require critical hazardous materials in an expedited manner, identifying choke points within the supply chain is necessary to improve logistic support to front line forces. Hazardous materials are some of the most critical assets for the war fighter, as well as the most restrictive and often most time consuming for transportation. This research quantifies the extent that vendor and depot supplied cargo is being delayed at Aerial Ports of Embarkation. By looking at frustrated hazardous material at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina and Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, a case study methodology is used to …

Algebra Of Tankers, Margaret M. Romero

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force's aerial refueling tanker aircraft provide essential support for deployment and employment of combat and combat support aircraft, by extending their endurance and enhancing fighting efficiency. As the lead command for air refuelers, Air Mobility Command (AMC) must frequently examine the capability of current and proposed tanker fleets to meet mission requirements due to limited tanker resources. Analysts in AMC primarily use the Combined Mating and Ranging Plans System to provide actual tanker/receiver aircraft schedules and flight plans that take into account numerous system constraints. However, this tool can take weeks to run. Even recently developed quick look …

Purchasing And Supply Chain Management Costing: An Air Transport Perspective Derived Through Commercial Air Cargo Firms, Kurt Ettrich

Theses and Dissertations

The Air Force has struggled to completely understand the costs associated with its operations. The issue of understanding cost is complex, involving many perspectives, methods and techniques. When examined from a broad standpoint, total supply chain costs can include a firm's costs plus upstream and downstream costs. This perspective takes vendors, suppliers and end customers into consideration. From this broad standpoint, the Air Force does not know its total supply chain cost. Since the Air Force's supply chain is too broad to be a focus of this study, a smaller segment was chosen for a closer look. Specifically, air cargo …

A Simulation-Based Analysis Of The Impact Of In-Sourcing A Major Process Element On The Coast Guard Hh-601 Depot Maintenance Process, Steven E. Vigus

Theses and Dissertations

Leaders at the United States Coast Guard's Aircraft Repair and Service Center (ARSC) in Elizabeth City, North Carolina recently formalized their planning and analysis functions by adding a dedicated branch to their command structure. The Planning and Analysis Branch intends to apply computer modeling and simulation to study the impact of process changes to the various Programmed Depot Maintenance (PDM) lines. This research considers the applicability of this type of modeling and simulation, using ARENA to study the current HH-6OJ PDM process. The contribution of this research is a methodology specific to ARSC needs, an analysis of methodology based on …

A Service Life Analysis Of Coast Guard C-130 Aircraft, Jonathan B. Duff

Theses and Dissertations

The U. S. Coast Guard, much like the rest of the Armed Services, is facing a dramatic transformation of its forces to meet current and future service requirements. The Coast Guard has responded to this transformation by initiating the Deepwater System, a complete review of the offshore mission requirements and the modernization of its infrastructure. In particular, Deepwater will review and modernize the Coast Guard's aviation assets, improving aircraft systems, airborne sensors, and communications and information management systems. However, these capability advancements will take time and money to implement, and will require careful management of the current resources to ensure …

Use Of Critical Chain Scheduling To Increase Aircraft Availability, Daniel D. Mattioda

Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the operation and support cost differences between the TUAF C-130E & C-130B, and the USAF C-130J aircraft. The TUAF C-130s have been being used for more than 30 years and changing world situations give armed forces different roles, and Turkey participates in all peacekeeping missions that are assigned by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the United Nations. While performing these roles, the importance of air mobility and the importance of reliability became widely appreciated. Moreover, the coming retiring age of the existing C-130s in the TUAF forced the TUAF to look for ways to improve its …

An Examination Of The United States Air Service's Logistics Operations, Andrew W. Hunt

Theses and Dissertations

This historical study details the U.S. Air Service's logistics operations at home and abroad in an attempt to determine the relationship between the process and more recently established logistic principles. The information in the study was collected through an extensive review of both first hand accounts and historical compilations of the nature of World War I aviation logistics. Information regarding the production of the De Haviland DH-4 and Liberty Engine serve as the primary case examples of the operation of the logistics system. The established principles required for comparison were extracted from the writings of a number of expert military …

Integration Of The Distribution And Repair In Variable Environments (Drive) Model Into Micap Policy, Bradley E. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The United States Air Force has implemented the Distribution and Repair In Variable Environments (DRIVE) Model to a limited degree for a limited range of items, and policy makers seem unsure as to the proper level of DRIVE utilization. New asset release sequences and policies have been proposed without evidence to support those decisions. The purpose of this study is to explore different levels of DRIVE implementation relating to proposed asset release policies in order to provide some evidence on which policy could best support Air Force weapon systems. A second purpose of this study is to show how the …