In a spare parts inventory network, there would always occur events that elevate the short time risk of not being able to fulfil a demand for a spare unit from the own inventory pool significantly above the corresponding (acceptable) mid-term risk, for example if the spare parts ownership on hand (across all inventory locations) has dropped to (close to) 0 units, i.e. most units would be either in repair (or at locked locations). To ensure this does not eventually lead to a shortage situation, pre-emptive measures can possibly be taken to reduce the risk of an outage from occurring.
The Inventory Outage Alert function comprises continuous monitoring of the number of units in the repair/re-order cycle and identifies part numbers that are understocked. For such part numbers, the User can determine the incremental risk of outage. For part numbers with unacceptable incremental outage risk, the User can then evaluate the effect and initiate execution of mitigating measures such as (i) reservation of a unit to be cannibalised from another aircraft, (ii) bringing forward the repair return date for some part numbers that are in the repair cycle, (iii) loaning of parts, or (iv) procurement of additional units (subject to budget availability).