Design of an optimal inventory management policy of onboard catering equipment across the network of an airline

The project is about designing an optimal inventory management policy to manage the stock of onboard catering equipment (such as carts, coffee pots, trays, beverage bins) across the network of an airline (at destination airports and the hub) to eliminate out of stock occurrences while minimizing inventory at destination airports and the central warehouse as well as the overall handling of equipment.

The airline is considering the use of 3 sets of technical equipment per aircraft: 1 at origin, 1 at destination (return origin) and 1 onboard, in addition to a central inventory at the main warehouse.

The project entails the following tasks:

• Evaluate the system performance under the current setup
• Map the current status and compare it to the design of 3 shipsets per aircraft
• Determine an optimal inventory management policy that eliminate out of stock occurrences while minimizing inventory at destinations and hub airport
• Policy should take into consideration equipment breakdown and repair time and minimize overall handling of equipment
• Investigate whether a static or dynamic policy would be better for the current fleet of aircraft and routes
• Recommend a process/action to follow in the case of disruptions such as addition or withdrawal of aircrafts or flights.

The project Sponsor will provide data like flights schedule (with origin, destination, aircraft type), shipset configuration by aircraft type (quantity of each component of the set), inventory of items in the main hub and in the network, airport types (hub, non-hub, catered, non-catered, other), and other relevant constraints.

Project Details

• Student(s): Team 1: Rafka Younes, Jean Bou Habi, Gaelle Abou Jaoude, Joseph Mardikian / Team 2: Mia Chlela, Ray Rahi, Charbel Boueiri, Jad Bahous
• Advisor(s): Dr. Pierrette Zouein
• Year: 2023-2024