A simulation approach for improving the strategic planning of overhaul industries

Strategic planning in a multi-project environment aims at evaluating the needs in resources and materials for an intermediate period of time. That task is particularly difficult when the projects involved are overhauls. The content of repair and modification work varies from equipment to equipment and depends directly on the condition of the one being overhauled. This paper describes a simulation approach for the evaluation of the resource requirements of many concurrent overhaul projects over a long period of time. The model was used to evaluate real overhaul project schedules in the aerospace industry. A comparison between durations obtained from simulation and real overhaul project durations was performed. These results indicate that simulation is a better approach than standard project planning techniques when evaluating the time required to complete an overhaul