The development and evaluation of Internet-based supply of non-production (MRO) items

Abstract

Recent development in the application of Internet technologies to manufacturing organisations have begun to explore the procurement of non-production items, commonly known as maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) supplies, such as maintenance equipment, services and parts. In developing these new applications, consideration needs to be given to identifying the new operational models that are required and to determining the business benefits that will result. This paper examines the development of Internet-based MRO procurement through the depiction of new business models and the evaluation of business benefits (i.e. better service levels and costs reduction) of deploying these new approaches using simulation modelling.