Resumen
AbstractThe management of maintenance spares has frequently been treated as part of the management of the total inventory in production-oriented organizations. In this article it is suggested that maintenance spares should be grouped into four categories: non-stock, usage stock, project stock and insurance stock. Rather than using a common inventory control approach to all spares, different techniques should be applied to each category. Developments in reliability-centred maintenance will result in less reliance on forecasting maintenance spares requirements, thereby permitting a higher service level without an increase in inventory carrying costs.