Cover: Applying a Bootstrap Approach for Setting Reorder Points in Military Supply Systems

Applying a Bootstrap Approach for Setting Reorder Points in Military Supply Systems

by Ronald D. Fricker, Christopher A. Goodhart

Purchase Print Copy

 FormatList Price
Add to Cart Paperback20 pages Free

This report develops and applies a nonparametric bootstrap methodology for setting inventory reorder points and a simple inequality for identifying existing reorder points that are unreasonably high. The authors demonstrate that an empirically based bootstrap method is both feasible and calculable for large inventories by applying it to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force General Account, an inventory consisting of $20-30 million of stock for 10-20,000 different types of items. Further, the authors show that the bootstrap methodology works significantly better than the existing methodology based on mean days of supply. In fact, the authors demonstrate performance equivalent to the existing system with a reduced inventory at one-half to one-third the cost; conversely, the authors demonstrate significant improvement in fill rates and other inventory performance measures for an inventory of the same cost.

Research conducted by

Originally published in: Naval Research Logistics, v. 47, no. 6, September 2000, pp. 459-478.

This report is part of the RAND Corporation Reprint series. The Reprint was a product of the RAND Corporation from 1992 to 2011 that represented previously published journal articles, book chapters, and reports with the permission of the publisher. RAND reprints were formally reviewed in accordance with the publisher's editorial policy and compliant with RAND's rigorous quality assurance standards for quality and objectivity. For select current RAND journal articles, see External Publications.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.