END-TO-END VISIBILITY OF SPARES IN MODERN PUBLIC SECTOR LOGISTICS FIRMS

Abstract

Spare parts management is an effective method of operational preparedness and ensuring mission-critical systems of public sector logistic organizations. Several decades after giant commitments in centralized inventory management systems, most public sector logistic networks still report inadequate end-to-end visibility, especially at the depot level. The available literature implies that fragmented processes, manual inventory practice, and a lack of proper integration of systems are still a challenge in the realization of real-time visibility in the supply chains. This study aims to review the existing practices of managing spares in logistics depots in the public sector logistic, recognize the major obstacles to end-to-end insight, and discuss the ways the practices can be improved with digital and process-based discussions. The adopted study design was a qualitative case-study research design using semi-structured interviews with six logistics officers serving in two large logistics depots. Thematic analysis was applied in the analysis of data to identify repetitive trends and operating ideas. The results show that, in spite of the fact that centralized inventory systems grant relatively basic access to the information, the presence of excessive manual operations, slow data entry, low system connectivity, and a lack of automated tracking solutions restricts real-time visibility to a considerable degree. This research is relevant to the existing literature on supply-chain visibility due to the expansion of empirical studies in the  logistics setting and the emphasis on the interplay of technological, organizational, and human aspects. The results can also provide useful advice to logistics managers and policymakers who want to increase operational preparedness by improving the visibility of spare parts.

Keywords: Supply Chain Visibility, Public Sector Logistics, Spare Parts Management, Digital Transformation, Qualitative Case Study