Using TRIZ to Improve the Procurement Process of Spare Parts in the Taiwan Navy

Abstract: The Naval Maintenance and Repair Command Acquisition Management Unit (NMRC-AMU) of the Taiwan Navy suffered from poor stock control of spare parts and inadequate modification of requested items and manufacturer/part codes during recent years. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate core categorization, coordination, and procurement (CCP) problems, to formulate feasible solutions and then to improve the CCP performances of spare parts in NMRC-AMU. The Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskih Zadatch (TRIZ) method was applied to solve this issue. A problem hierarchy analysis (PHA) was first used to identify the core problems. Then, the 40 principles were used to determine the ideal improvement solution and formulate a solution strategy that simultaneously simplified CCP processed and enhanced the correctness of procurement tasks, thereby elevating CCP efficiency, supporting the Taiwan Navy repair missions, and satisfying fleet maintenance and servicing demands. The results indicated that total 6925 requests for coordination and procurement were submitted. Of these requests, 4366 requests had been completed (with total 102 cases), and the CCP efficiency is 63.0%. After improvement by this study, a total of 4529 items were submitted and 3592 executed items were completed (with a total of 172 cases), and the CCP efficiency is 79.3%. The improvement percentage of the CCP efficiency and completed cases are 30.6% and 68.6%, respectively. The performances are good and the TRIZ could be applied for other military forces.