Strategic raw material inventory optimization

The production of aerospace grade titanium alloys is concentrated in a relatively small number of producers. The market for these materials has always been cyclical in nature. During periods of high demand, metal producers claim to operate near full capacity utilization. During periods of reduced demand, metal producers struggle to remain profitable. Additionally, the manufacturing processes for aerospace grade titanium alloys are capital intensive and require long lead-times in order to bring new capacity online. The combination of these factors often results in an inflexible titanium alloy raw material supply chain for Pratt & Whitney. At the same time, Pratt & Whitney experiences a variety of rare but disruptive events within the supply chain that affect their raw material requirements. Examples of these disruptive events include customer drop-in orders, manufacturing complications resulting in scrapped material, and planning deficiencies. In order to protect engine and spare part customers from delayed deliveries due to long lead-time raw materials, Pratt & Whitney holds a strategic inventory of various titanium alloy raw material.

Department dc:contributor.department

Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Vacha, Robin L. (Robin Lee)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Donald B. Rosenfield and Daniel E. Whitney.

• Sloan School of Management.
• Mechanical Engineering.
• Leaders for Manufacturing Program.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/39688

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/39688