A Comparison of the Standard Base Supply System and the Distribution and Repair in Variable Environments Models in Determining a Depot Working Level

The Air Force has adopted a philosophy of logistics operations directed toward improving the products, costs, and responsiveness of the Air Force\u27s reparable pipeline. The philosophy was termed Lean Logistics. This research addressed one problem created through the implementation of Lean Logistics. The problem was determining a depot Working LeveL The Air Force Materiel Command needed to determine an appropriate method to use when determining the depot Working Level. To help determine the appropriate method, this research compared the Standard Base Supply System (SBSS) and the Distribution and Repair In Variable Environments (DRIVE) model. Both models were utilized in two different comparisons to set the depot Working Level for all B-1B avionics line replaceable units within similar repair budget. In the first comparison, the SBSS determined the repair budget and DRIVE was forced to perform within the SBSS budget. In the second comparison, DRIVE determined a leaner budget and the SBSS was forced to perform within the lean budget. The models\u27 performances were then assessed using Dyna-METRIC to estimate system-wide aircraft availability. DRIVE performed better than the SBSS in both comparisons. The research concluded that DRIVE was more appropriate than the SBSS for setting the depot Working Level