Estimating obsolescence risk from demand data - a case study

Abstract

In this paper obsolescence of service parts is analyzed in a practical environment. Based\non the analysis, we propose a method that can be used to estimate the risk of obsolescence\nof service parts. The method distinguishes groups of service parts. For these groups, the\nrisk of obsolescence is estimated using the behavior of similar groups of service parts in\nthe past. The method uses demand data as main information source, and can therefore be\napplied without the use of an expert\'s opinion. We will give numerical values for the risk of\nobsolescence obtained with the method, and the e\xc2\xaeects of these values on inventory control\nwill be examined