Yet Another Digression on Systems Analysis: The Great Spare Parts Fiasco

Top management of a well-known computer manufacturing firm recently became concerned with the growing cost of maintaining, across the country, local stocks of spare parts needed to repair and maintain the computers it typically leased, and sometimes sold, to users. This was obviously an inventory control problem, so the corporate OR/MS group was called in and told to do their thing to bring the inventory picture back into more acceptable proportions.