Using BlockSim 6 for Planning Just-In-Time Ordering of Spare Parts
Just-in-time (also known as lean production or stockless production) is an inventory strategy that aims to reduce operation cost by reducing carried inventory and its associated cost. Inventory of spare parts is necessary to maintain operations and avoid long downtime, but can also be a major expense. Modern business thinking views inventory as incurring costs instead of adding value. Lean business tries to eliminate inventory that does not add value to the product. The just-in-time (JIT) philosophy is about having the right part at the right time, at the right place and in the sufficient amount. Good predictive and statistical analysis can transform inventory from a burden to a lifesaver. This article presents methods to use BlockSim 6 for comparing different inventory policies to achieve a JIT inventory strategy based on the understanding of the repair and spare parts needs for supporting an operation.

Standards Based Reliability Prediction in a Nutshell
Standards based reliability prediction is a methodology for predicting reliability for systems and components (mostly electronics) based on failure rate estimates published by globally recognized military or commercial standards. Standards based reliability prediction is especially useful in the initial stages of development when hard failure data is not yet available or when manufacturers are obliged contractually by their customers to use published standards for their reliability predictions. This article presents an overview of standards based reliability prediction and how it can be performed with the help of the Lambda Predict software.