Orientador: Fernando Augusto da Silva Marins / Banca: Jorge Muniz Junior / Banca: Michel Carmem Neyra Belderrain / Resumo: Esta dissertação abordou o problema de disponibilidade de peças de reposição para o atendimento às solicitações dos clientes na pós-venda, principalmente dos setores naval, aéreo e siderúrgico, que participam de um mercado que apresenta características próprias. A falta de determinadas peças de reposição acarreta descontentamento ou, pior, a impossibilidade de utilização do produto. Comumente, o planejamento de estoque não leva em consideração a visão da área de suporte ao cliente, que vivencia os conflitos e efeitos causados por eventuais faltas de peças. Dessa forma, este estudo objetivou propor um modelo que auxilie na decisão gerencial, com respeito ao perfil do estoque de peça de reposição na organização. O estudo partiu do pressuposto de que não é viável estocar todos os tipos de peças de reposição, tendo assim que identificar quais agregam valor. Isso foi feito por meio, de um modelo inclusivo, que combinou o Método de Auxílio à Decisão por Múltiplos Critérios e a Combinação desses critérios. O primeiro, através dos julgamentos de diferentes profissionais, objetivou alcançar um resultado consolidado e priorizado, enquanto que o segundo, através da classificação por combinação sem repetição, buscou encontrar grupos com característica semelhantes priorizados entre si. O modelo conseguiu reduzir a dificuldade de seleção de peças de reposição equilibrando as necessidades das diferentes áreas. / Abstract: This study tackled the problem of spare parts availability for the fulfillment of the after-market customers, mainly the naval, aviation and the steel industries, which are part of a market that has its own characteristics. The lack of certain spare parts causes unpleasant situations for customers or, even worse, the impossibility of utilization of product. Normally, the stock planning does not take into consideration the customer support area experience, which goes through the conflicts and effects caused by eventual lack of parts. Thus, this study envisaged to propose a model which can help in management decisions, regarding the profile of spare part stock in the organization. The study considered that it is not viable to stock all kinds of spare parts, thus having to identify which ones can aggregate value for customer. This was done through an inclusive model, matched the Multiple Criteria Decision Aid and the combination of these criterias. The first, envisaged to reach a consolidated and prioritized result, through the judgment of different professionals, whereas the second, sought to find groups with similar characteristics prioritized among each other, through the classification by combination without repetition. The model got to reduce the difficulties of choosing spare parts balancing the needs of different areas. / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2008-05-15Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T19:39:25Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 vieira_ha_me_guara.pdf: 406242 bytes, checksum: 5fb852de1f30a52599d87ed826634d4d (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Esta dissertação abordou o problema de disponibilidade de peças de reposição para o atendimento às solicitações dos clientes na pós-venda, principalmente dos setores naval, aéreo e siderúrgico, que participam de um mercado que apresenta características próprias. A falta de determinadas peças de reposição acarreta descontentamento ou, pior, a impossibilidade de utilização do produto. Comumente, o planejamento de estoque não leva em consideração a visão da área de suporte ao cliente, que vivencia os conflitos e efeitos causados por eventuais faltas de peças. Dessa forma, este estudo objetivou propor um modelo que auxilie na decisão gerencial, com respeito ao perfil do estoque de peça de reposição na organização. O estudo partiu do pressuposto de que não é viável estocar todos os tipos de peças de reposição, tendo assim que identificar quais agregam valor. Isso foi feito por meio, de um modelo inclusivo, que combinou o Método de Auxílio à Decisão por Múltiplos Critérios e a Combinação desses critérios. O primeiro, através dos julgamentos de diferentes profissionais, objetivou alcançar um resultado consolidado e priorizado, enquanto que o segundo, através da classificação por combinação sem repetição, buscou encontrar grupos com característica semelhantes priorizados entre si. O modelo conseguiu reduzir a dificuldade de seleção de peças de reposição equilibrando as necessidades das diferentes áreas. / This study tackled the problem of spare parts availability for the fulfillment of the after-market customers, mainly the naval, aviation and the steel industries, which are part of a market that has its own characteristics. The lack of certain spare parts causes unpleasant situations for customers or, even worse, the impossibility of utilization of product. Normally, the stock planning does not take into consideration the customer support area experience, which goes through the conflicts and effects caused by eventual lack of parts. Thus, this study envisaged to propose a model which can help in management decisions, regarding the profile of spare part stock in the organization. The study considered that it is not viable to stock all kinds of spare parts, thus having to identify which ones can aggregate value for customer. This was done through an inclusive model, matched the Multiple Criteria Decision Aid and the combination of these criterias. The first, envisaged to reach a consolidated and prioritized result, through the judgment of different professionals, whereas the second, sought to find groups with similar characteristics prioritized among each other, through the classification by combination without repetition. The model got to reduce the difficulties of choosing spare parts balancing the needs of different areas.

El presente trabajo de investigación desenvuelve una propuesta de comercialización de repuestos alternativos para maquinaria de construcción con características diferenciadas en términos de diseño y fabricación del producto dentro del segmento del mercado alternativo; brindando piezas mecánicas de encaje perfecto para maquinaria, esto se traduce sustancialmente en la mejora del rendimiento de la maquinaria. En el ambiente de las medianas y pequeñas constructoras, los repuestos alternativos son requeridos cuando el equipo mecánico ha llegado a alcanzar las horas de trabajo dentro de la garantía original; y a partir de este punto en el tiempo de vida de la maquinaria se comienzan a analizar “eficiencia en costos”, originándose la posibilidad del uso del alternativo frente al original y para ello cobra importancia, accesibilidad, la inmediatez, la disponibilidad y precio del repuesto. El segmento de clientes objetivo se caracteriza por dueños de equipo de construcción del líder mundial en maquinaria pesada que operan en proyectos de pequeña o mediana envergadura, quienes hoy se encuentran tomando decisiones a corto plazo sobre la manera de cómo mantener sus equipos, ellos no buscan una reconstrucción completa de sus equipos con partes premium, ellos encuentran mayor valor en la prontitud de arreglar el equipo para volver a trabajar, estas decisiones a menudo están íntimamente relacionadas con presiones internas para atender el flujo de caja y metas mensuales de su negocio. Este segmento de clientes adquiere actualmente repuestos alternativos experimentando insatisfacción por la baja calidad de los productos existentes en el mercado peruano. Para este segmento, la propuesta ofrece el mayor rendimiento que se puede brindar al “Equipo Clásico” empleando piezas de encaje perfecto de gran fiabilidad y confiabilidad con una disponibilidad garantizada a través de una red de distribuidores que serán ubicados a nivel nacional y todo a un costo razonable por los repuestos alternativos. El mercado potencial está compuesto por todos los clientes que poseen equipos de la marca líder en maquinaria pesada clásico (antigüedad mayor a 10 años), que para un parque más de 1,500 equipos representan un potencial de mercado estimado mayor a 7 MM USD; de otro lado el mercado meta está compuesto por el 30% de los clientes del mercado potencial que se alcanzará el 3er año con una oportunidad estimada mayor a los 2MM USD. Los proveedores que operan en el mercado actual de partes y repuestos alternativos se encuentran atomizados y dispersos, en este contexto no existe una marca líder del segmento; esto representa una clara oportunidad para la compañía líder nacional en maquinaria pesada puesto que además del producto ofrecido, puede usar el respaldo que lo caracteriza para conseguir penetrar y posicionarse en el segmento a través del lanzamiento de repuestos ALOR. La inversión para puesta en marcha del negocio es de 800,000 USD, siendo que el financiamiento en deuda corresponde al 62.5%, el destino de las inversiones será en activo tangible relacionadas principalmente con la locación y preparación de las tiendas en los principales conglomerados de repuestos del país y el nivel de stock inicial. Se ha logrado demostrar que el negocio es rentable analizando sus principales indicadores y ello conlleva a que es perfectamente factible continuar con el proceso de expansión del negocio abriendo nuevos puntos de venta en el país; sin embargo; este análisis no forma parte del alcance del desarrollo del presente trabajo de investigación. Es así que para un escenario moderado de proyecciones del flujo de caja del negocio que considera una inflación del 2.5% y un crecimiento del 20% anual de las ventas; tenemos un periodo de retorno de la inversión de 5 años. En la evaluación financiera realizada, obtenemos un Valor Actual Neto de $ 576,184.00, además de una Taza Interna de Retorno del 18% que sobrepasa la tasa de descuento utilizad; lo que nos demuestra que el emprendimiento resulta rentable al superar los ingresos a sus egresos durante los siguientes 5 años futuros. / This research paper develops a proposal for the commercialization of alternative spare parts for heavy construction machinery with the characteristics of differentiation in terms of product design and manufacturing within the segment of the alternative market; providing perfect fit mechanical parts for machinery, this translates substantially into improving the performance of the machinery. In medium and small construction companies, alternative spare parts are required when machinery has reached the working hours within the original warranty; and from this point in the lifetime of the machinery medium and small construction companies begin to analyze "cost efficiency", leading the possibility of using the alternative spare parts against the genuine and for this it becomes important, accessibility, immediacy, availability and price of spare parts. The target customer segment is characterized by construction machinery owners of the world leader in heavy machinery operating on small or medium-sized projects, who are today making short-term decisions on how to keep their machinery, they don't seek a complete overhaul of their machinery with premium parts, they find greater value in the promptness of fixing the machinery to get back to work, these decisions are often closely related to pressures to meet cash flow and monthly business goals. This segment of customers currently acquires alternative spare parts experiencing dissatisfaction with the low quality of existing products in the Peruvian market. For this segment, the proposal offers the highest performance that can be provided to the "Classic Machinery" using perfect fit spare parts of great reliability with guaranteed availability through a network of distributors that will be located nationwide and all of this at a reasonable cost for alternative spare parts. The potential market is made up of all customers who own machinery from the leading brand in classic heavy machinery (older than 10 years), which for a park of more than1,500 equipment represents an estimated market potential greater than USD 7 MM; on the other hand the target market is made up of 30% of the potential market customers who will reach the 3rd year with an estimated opportunity greater than 2MM USD. The suppliers that operate in the current market of alternative spare parts are atomized and dispersed, in this context there is no leading brand in the segment; this represents a good opportunity for the national leader in heavy machinery company since in addition of the product offered, it can use the support that characterizes it to get penetrated and positions in the segment through the launch of ALOR spare parts. The investment for start-up of the business is 800,000 USD, with debt financing being 62.5%, the destination of the investments will be tangible assets related mainly to the location and preparation of the stores in the main conglomerates of country spare parts and initial stock level. It has been possible to demonstrate that the business is profitable by analyzing its main indicators and this means that it is perfectly feasible to continue the process of expanding the business by opening new points of sale in the country; however; this analysis is not part of the scope of the development of this research paper. Thus, for a moderate scenario of business cash flow projections that considers inflation of 2.5% and 20% annual sales growth; we have a 5-year return on investment period. In the financial evaluation, we obtain a Net Present Value of $576,184.00, which shows us that entrepreneurship is profitable by surpassing the income to its egress for the next 5 years. In addition, an Internal Rate of Return of 18% that exceeds the discount rate used. / Trabajo de investigación

The  purpose of this work  is to investigate the  extent to which small and medium-sized manufacturing  companies handle spare  parts with  the help of outsourcing,  what factors influence  the decision, and what effect it has on the  maintenance  in  general.   The  aim  of the  study  is to identify  any  challenges that outsourcing  of spare  parts management creates. The  goal of the  study  is to  answer the  two  following  research questions:   ⦁  What are  the driving  forces for outsourcing  spare  parts management?   ⦁  How is maintenance  at  large  is  affected by  outsourcing  of spare  parts management?   It is important to note that due to the unpredictable  demand and uncertainty  about spare  parts, stock planning  and demand forecasts  are  challenges  for  spare  parts managers. This is a problem that can be  solved with the  right outsourcing  strategy.  It is a challenge  for  companies to find the  right solution based on  their manufacturing  and time-to-failure  rate. The  study  is conducted with semi-structured interviews with  people who are  directly connected to spare  parts  management and maintenance. Three  different companies,  about  the same size  on local level  have  been taken in the  study. The  study  has found  that there  is a significant  connection to  how outsourcing  affects  maintenance  and which  factors must be considered.  There  is clear potential for  increased  profitability  through  outsourcing  spare  parts management. The  results of the  study  cannot be  generalized but  must  be  applied  based on  the conditions the company  has.  Currently,  more  and more  companies choose to outsource  the  spare  parts management. This question  needs  to be studied deeply  in every  segment to display  what advantages  and disadvantages this option can have  for  specific  enterprises on different levels

No description available.

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Effective management of spare parts inventory is essential to companies because it influences inventory costs and asset utilization. The vast and diverse portfolio of spare parts, intermittent demand patterns and contradicting objectives between departments are examples of some of the factors that complicate Spare Parts Management (SPM). Managers of spare parts are faced with trade-off decisions between risk and cost on a daily basis. These decisions include, amongst many, determining appropriate stock levels and order frequencies. Despite the importance of SPM, decisions are however often made intuitively in practice with little factual support, and the decision-making process is commonly constrained within departmental silos. Even though there is a large body of academic knowledge on this topic, practical applications of spare parts inventory solutions lag behind theoretical studies. The majority of studies in literature focus on single components of SPM, such as demand forecasting and parts classification, whereas fewer studies consider the decision-making process itself. This study proposes a decision-making framework for spare parts inventory management. The framework is based on a wide-ranging literature review that focuses on capturing the essence of Spare Parts Management (SPM), but also acknowledges the interconnectedness of the problem. Therefore, core inventory management principles, as well as closely related topics such as Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Physical Asset Management (PAM), are studied in the context of spare parts. The broad scope of the literature study leads to a holistic approach to the problem and prevents sub-optimization. The proposed framework condenses principles from various fields of study (SCM, PAM, Classification and Inventory Management) into a stepwise methodology presented as a decision-making framework. The objective of the framework is to provide managers with a structured process, based on factual information, to enable better decision-making in the field. Furthermore, the framework aims to capture the fundamentals of SPM in a simplistic manner to ease the adoption of the framework in practice. A case study is conducted in the South African mining industry to validate the framework. The case study demonstrates that the framework is practical, provides structured guidance, and assists managers to make trade-off decisions in managing spare parts inventory. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Effektiewe voorraadbestuur van onderdele is belangrik vir maatskappye omdat dit voorraadkoste en die benutting van bates beïnvloed. Die bestuur van onderdele is ’n komplekse probleem. Ondermeer is die portefeulje van onderdele items breed en divers, die vraagpatrone sporadies en word die voorraadvlakke geaffekteer deur kontrasterende doelwitte tussen verskillende departemente. Bestuurders van onderdele word daagliks gekonfronteer met besluite rakende risiko’s en kostes, soos om toepaslike voorraadvlakke te bepaal en om te besluit wanneer om bestellings te plaas. Hierdie besluite word dikwels intuïtief geneem met min feitelike ondersteuning en insette in die besluitnemingsproses word gereeld beperk tot sekere departemente. Ten spyte van die geweldige akademiese belang in die onderwerp, is daar min suksesvolle praktiese toepassings. Die meerderheid van studies in die literatuur fokus op spesifieke elemente van onderdele bestuur, soos vooruitskatting en klassifisering van parte, terwyl minder op die besluitnemingsproses konsentreer. Hierdie studie stel ’n besluitnemingsraamwerk vir die bestuur van onderdele voorraad voor. Die raamwerk is gegrond op ’n deeglike literatuurstudie wat die essensie van onderdele bestuur ondersoek, maar ook die interverbondenheid van die probleem in ag neem. Voorraadbestuurbeginsels en verwante onderwerpe soos Voorsieningskettingbestuur en Fisiese Batebestuur word dus bespreek. Die breë omvang van die literatuurstudie lei tot ’n holistiese benadering wat sub-optimering van die probleem voorkom. Die voorgestelde raamwerk som beginsels uit verskillende relevante studievelde op in ’n stapsgewyse metode wat voorgestel word as ’n besluitnemingsraamwerk. Die doel van die raamwerk is om bestuurders te voorsien met ’n gestruktureerde proses, gebaseer op feitelike inligting, om besluitneming in die veld te verbeter. Verder poog die raamwerk om die fundamentele konsepte in voorraadbestuur vas te vang in ’n eenvoudige manier sodat die raamwerk maklik geïmplementeer kan word in die praktyk. Die voorgestelde raamwerk is gevalideer deur middel van ’n gevallestudie in die Suid-Afrikaanse mynbedryf. Die gevallestudie toon dat die voorgestelde raamwerk prakties is, die besluitnemingsproses op ’n gestruktureerde wyse lei, en bestuurders help om beter, ingeligte besluite te neem.

Syfte– Syftet med denna studie var att finna ett klassificeringsverktyg som kan underlätta beslutsfattande vid reservdelsuppläggning. För att besvara syftet formuleradestre frågeställningar;   Vilket analysverktyg kan användas för att systematiskt klassificera reservdelar i olika    grupper? Hur kan de klassificerade grupperna nyttjas vid reservdelsuppläggning?  Hur kan efterfrågan prognostiseras för de olika klassificerade grupperna med hänsyn till servicenivå? Metod– Studien bedrevs deduktivt genom teoribyggande, med både en empiriskt fallstudie och analytisk konceptuell inriktning. De metoder som studien använts sig av är; litteraturstudier, intervjuer och insamling från dokumentstudien. Litteraturstudien har varit inom områdena; reservdelsklassificering och prognostisering.  Resultat– Studiens resultat är att det krävs en multiklassificeringsmodell för att systematiskt klassificera reservdelar på grund av den komplexa naturen av reservdelshanteringen. Klassificeringsmodellen kan sedan utnyttjas till flera ändamål. De användningsområden som studien funnit är; hjälp vid bestämning av servicenivå, hjälp med val av prognostiseringsmetod för reservdelsgrupperna samt att finna reservdelar som har en skiftande efterfrågetrend.    Implikationer– Klassificeringsmodellen ämnar sig till att underlätta företags reservdelsuppläggning. Med hjälp av modellen ska fallföretaget lättare kunna ta beslut så som vilken servicenivå och prognosmetod som kan användas för deras reservdelar. Begränsningar–  Den här studiens begränsning är att bara ett fallföretag studerades på grund av tidsbegränsningen. Detta medförde att modellen som anpassades blev företagsspecifik och rekommenderas att valideras på andra företag.  Nyckelord– Klassificering, Reservdelsklassificering, Beslutstöd, Prognostisering, Reservdelsprognostisering, Servicenivå / Purpose–The purpose of this study was to find a classification tool that can ease the decision-making process of spare parts planning and forecasting. To accomplish this, three research questions were formulated; Which analysis tools can be used for a systematic classification of spare parts into different groups? How can the classified groups be used when planning and forecasting spare parts? How can the forecasting be done for the different classified groupsconsidering thecustomer service level?  Method– The study was deductively through theory-building, with both an empirical case study and analytical conceptual approach. The methods used were; litterateur research, interviews and collection of secondary data. The litterateur research has been conducted in the areas; spare parts classification and forecasting.  Findings– The finding of this study was that a multi criteria method is needed for a systematic classification of spare parts, because of the complex nature of spare part handling. The classification model can then be used for multiple tasks. The tasks that this study found were; help in deciding the customer service level, help in choosing forecast method for the different spare part groups and finding the spare parts that have shifted in demand trend. Implications– The classification model intends to ease companies spare parts planning and forecasting process. With help from the model the case company should have a more effective process now in choosing which customer service level and forecasting method to use for their spare part.   Limitations– This studies limitation was that only one case company was studied because of time constraints. This makes the modified model very company specific and needs to be further validated on other companies.  Keywords– Classification, Spare parts classification, Decision support, Forecasting, Spare parts forecasting, customer service level

High availability of a system can be achieved by performing timely replacement of degraded or failed components. To this end, spare parts are expected to be available and reordered when needed. It is not uncommon that spare parts may deteriorate on the shelf because of their physical characteristics and/or the imperfect storage and transportation conditions. Such phenomena will affect the reliability of spare parts and the availability of the system. In this dissertation, we first focus on a system with single critical operating component and one unit of deteriorating spare part. For such a system, to ensure the system availability and cost efficiency, making a joint decision on component replacement and reordering time is of vital importance. In particular, we study both failure-switching and preventive-switching strategies, where cumulative damage is considered for the spare part switching from its in-stock to operating conditions. To determine the corresponding optimal component replacement and reordering policies, the long-run average costs are minimized under a fixed lead time. It is expected that the work will benefit quite a few industry sectors, such as mining, oil and gas, and defense, where the operation of systems heavily relies on capital-intensive components. To advance the research a step further, we have relaxed the system with only a single operating component to a more complex system with multiple components. In addition, we have eliminated the limitations on the order quantity and inventory capacity. To capture the on-shelf part deterioration, a two-phase deteriorating process is adopted, for which the first phase is from the spare's new arrival to the identification of its degradation, and the second phase is the period thereafter but before the unit fails. Based on the parts' degradation states, we introduce two different replacement strategies for the spare consumption, i.e., the Degraded-First strategy and the New-First strategy. Because of the random nature of component failures and on-shelf deterioration, stochastic cost models for both DF and NF strategies are derived. With the objective of cost reduction through coordinating the inventory and maintenance policies, an enumeration algorithm with stochastic dynamic programming is employed for finding the joint optimal solution over a finite time horizon. Numerical experiments are conducted to study the impacts of these two strategies on the operation costs, and the analysis of key parameters that affect the optimal solutions is also carried out in the numerical study. The joint policies of our interest focus on both replacement and reordering of spare parts, which are more realistic and complex than those policies handling maintenance and spare parts inventory control separately. In particular: When the maintenance planning and inventory control strategy are jointly optimized, we consider the spare parts inventory experiencing on-shelf deterioration, which has not been well studied in the related literature. When dealing with a system carrying only one spare part, the impact of on-shelf deterioration of the spare part on its remaining operational lifetime is explicitly dealt with and described by the Cumulative Exposure (CE) model. For the extended model for a multi-component system, we make an early attempt to adopt a two-phase process to take into account on-shelf degradation of parts. The issues in the degradation-level-based ordering of spare parts in the multi-component system are also discussed. Several integrated cost models are developed in both systems and are used to determine the optimal replacement and reordering decisions with the objective of minimizing the expected long-run cost rate over an infinite/finite horizon.

Detta examensarbete har utförts som en del av civilingenjörsprogrammet i maskinteknik vid Karlstads Universitet i samarbete med Valmet. För Valmet är försäljning av reservdelar är en vital del av deras totala affär. I avsikt att stärka konkurrenskraften mot kunder i framförallt lågkostnadsländer vill Valmet erbjuda mer kostnadseffektiva lösningar genom att utveckla konstruktionen på befintliga reservdelar. Målet med examensarbetet var därför att ta fram ett systematiskt arbetssätt för produktutveckling av kostnadseffektiva reservdelar och validera det genom implementering på en befintlig produkt i Valmets reservdelssortiment.   Underlaget till det framtagna arbetssättet samlades in genom att utföra en litteraturstudie, en nulägesanalys på Valmet och en intervju på ett företag som är framgångsrikt inom eftermarknad. Arbetssättet syntetiserades som en process med stöttande riktlinjer genom att utgå från Valmets befintliga utvecklingsprocess och integrera teoretiska modeller, principer och verktyg ur vetenskaplig litteratur. Arbetssättet testades sedan på lutmunstycken för sodapannor.   Grunden för det framtagna arbetssättet bestod av en kombination av Value Management och Design to Cost. Fokus i arbetssättet ligger vid att utveckla en reservdel som återställer systemet till sitt normala arbetstillstånd, för ett pris som kunden är beredd att betala, och som balanserar tillförlighet med tillgänglighet så att den totala kostnaden för kunden minimeras.   Genom att implementera det framtagna arbetssättet på lutmunstycken för sodapannor kunde ett förslag på en lösning med 66 % lägre pris och med 50 % lägre total kostnad för kunden tas fram. Implementeringen visade att arbetssättet praktiskt kan användas på enklare reservdelar men att det behöver testas på komplexa produkter av ett tvärfunktionellt team innan det används av Valmet.  Arbetssättet stärker Valmets förutsättningar för att erbjuda ett mer kostnadseffektiv reservdelsortiment.

The purpose of this thesis was to develop methodologies and procedures for the construction and use of CAD part families. This project uses the software CADDS5 created by Computervision, Inc., and its "Family of Parts" module. This software allows the creation of an entire family of similar parts using a single parametric master model and a text file containing the necessary parameters for each member of the family. CADDS5 users at Raytheon were surveyed to determine how they use standard parts, what types of standard parts are used, and typical modeling strategies. A set of criteria were developed to determine which groups of parts would be good candidates to be used as test cases. Four test cases were used to develop the methodology or procedure for the creation of families of parts. In addition, efficient use of these part families required the development of a set of search engines to allow the users to find parts more easily, and a parts server to generate new family members. The Family of Parts software in CADDS5 serves as a starting point for the creation of a usable library of standard parts. However, it has a poor user interface and has no system for part management and database administration. This thesis has made up for several of these shortcomings, and has created the core of a working library that can be easily used by all of the designers without requiring detailed knowledge of the details behind the implementation. The methodology developed during this project provides the necessary information for designers to create the majority of standard parts in use at Raytheon. For those who want to expand the library, it has provided useful information that will help them create high-quality parts that will work well with this system.