Advances in spare parts classification and forecasting for inventory control: A literature review

Ensuring availability of spare parts is essential for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to support after-sales maintenance and repair services for their products. Previous studies have pointed out shortcomings of literature in supporting practitioners with guidelines on development of effective spare parts management systems. This paper assesses the extent to which recent research advances address these shortcomings, through a review of recent literature on spare parts management. We find that most research gaps identified by previous studies continue to persist. Moreover, we find that majority of recent spare parts management research takes the perspective of owners of assets or equipment, and fewer case studies take the perspective of manufacturers or suppliers of the equipment and spare parts, i.e., OEMs. Majority of the recent case studies are from aviation, domestic appliance, and automotive industries.