We worked with the internal data science team of an industrials firm to crack a particularly challenging question. They had hypothesized that there were operational improvements possible in a particular maintenance process. Their senior management wanted proof of the validity of their hypothesis before undertaking any costly changes to the operational process.
Complicating factors further was that the long-lived nature of the components meant that a “real-world” experiment would take years to construct and analyze.
First, we helped the team build a model of the lifespan on the constituent components. Then to model the impact of operational changes, we built a simulation of the flow of components over time to make predictions about potential cost savings.
Through our work, we achieved a reduction in the amount of inventory used in repairs and a 12% increase in the component lifespan.