Abstract
The reliability of most mechanical and electronic systems has improved dramatically over the past 50 years and yet there are warehouses full of spare parts that will never get used because there is no demand, or because they will reach their use by a date before they are needed or because they will become obsolete. Parts are frequently replaced unnecessarily while others that are much more likely to cause system failures are left untouched. The result is that despite vast sums of money being invested in spares, system availability is still very much a problem. Operations research has the tools that could significantly improve this situation but why are they not being used?
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John Crocker
John Crocker graduated from the University of Sheffield with a BSc in Mathematics in 1971. After working for 4 years in an Operational Research Group within the steel industry he moved to a similar position in Rolls-Royce where he concentrated on developing simulation models of the operation, maintenance and support of gas-turbine, aero-engines. He gained his MSc (1997) and PhD (2001) in Logistics Engineering from the MIRCE Centre, University of Exeter under Dr Mirce Knezevic. He joined the Operational Research Society in the early 1970s, became a Fellow in 2003 and has held a number of positions of responsibility within it. He is also a Chartered Engineer through the Royal Aeronautical Society. He has written a book on Simulation and co-authored three books on Reliability and Maintainability. He is an industrial advisor, supervisor and ad hoc lecturer at a number of UK universities.