A Cost-Benefit Analysis for the Implementation of Lean Logistics to Aircraft Structural Repair at the Air Force Material Command\u27s Warner Robins Air Logistics Center/Depot

Abstract

This research conducts a cost-benefit analysis of the implementation of lean logistics to the repair of aircraft structural components at the Air Force Material Command\u27s (AFMC) Warner Robins Air Logistics Center (WR-ALC). A literature review identifies new business practices in the automotive industry, collectively \u27termed lean production, that were translated by the RAND Corporation into a modified Air Force logistics system-- the lean logistics model. Theoretical costs and benefits from the lean logistics model are translated into empirical costs and benefits associated with aircraft structural repair. The cost-benefit analysis results clearly demonstrate that express distribution costs for the sizable aircraft structural components significantly contribute to costs exceeding benefits for this specific depot logistics subsystem process