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| “Engineman Fireman Recruit Megan Cotrell conducts maintenance on an engine in one of the main spaces aboard the amphibious transport dock ship USS New Orleans (LPD 18).”[i] (Photo courtesy U.S. Navy) |
There’s a
term for everything in logistics. The problem is, the specific meaning of a
term is often nuanced and depends on where you work or where you “grew up” as a
logistician. Since every logistics organization has its own dialect, we take a
closer look at several terms for spare parts, especially those parts managed by
readiness-based sparing (RBS).
Table 1 includes
some of the more common terms and definitions for spare parts. Use this table as a convenient point of reference...or
translation; investigate the citations further to better understand the specific
intent behind each usage.
Table 1
General Definitions
|
General term
|
Reference definition
|
|
Repair part
|
“Part
required to return a vehicle to operational condition, necessary to perform
its intended purpose. This does not include maintenance supplies; such as,
wiping rags, antifreeze, radiator flush and stop-leak, solvents, grease, etc.”[ii]
|
|
Spare part
|
“An
individual part, sub-assembly or assembly supplied for the maintenance or
repair of systems or equipment.”[iii]
|
|
Service parts
|
“Those
modules, components, and elements that are planned to be used without
modification to replace an original part.”[iv]
|
Table 2
provides some additional specificity and definitions for spare parts based upon
the item’s ultimate usage.
Table 2
Specific Definitions
|
The item is consumed or loses its identity in use.
|
|
|
Specific
term
|
Reference
definition
|
|
Consumable item
|
“An
item of supply (except explosive ordnance and major end items of equipment)
that is normally expended or used up beyond recovery in the use for which it
is designed or intended.”[v]
|
|
Expendable item
|
“Item
[that] is consumed in use or [that] loses its original identity during
periods of use by incorporation into, or attachment upon, another assembly.”[vi]
|
|
Shop supplies
|
“Expendable
items consumed in operation and maintenance (waste, oils, solvents, tape,
packing, flux, welding rod).”[vii]
|
|
The item is not consumed and retains its identity while in use.
|
|
|
Specific
term
|
Reference
definition
|
|
Capital spare
|
“[C]apital
spares are not consumed or used to destruction on the basis that they can be
repaired and so become ‘rotable items’.”[viii]
|
|
Exchangeable item
|
“Recoverable
components, such as pumps, electric motors, carburetors, and fuel controls.”[ix]
|
|
Recoverable item
|
“A
spare part [that] normally is not expended in use and [that] can be reused
after recovery and repair.”[x]
|
|
Repairable item
|
·
“An
item that can be reconditioned or economically repaired for reuse when it
becomes unserviceable.”[xi]
·
“A
component, module, assembly, subassembly or equipment determined by the
inventory manager to be economically repairable when it becomes
unserviceable.”[xii]
|
|
Reparable item
|
“An
item of supply subject to economical repair, and for which the repair (at
either depot or field level) of unserviceable assets is considered in
satisfying computed requirements at any inventory level.”[xiii]
|
|
Rotable item
|
“[R]otable
spare parts are materials and supplies … that are acquired for installation
on a unit of property, removable from that unit of property, generally
repaired or improved, and either reinstalled on the same or other property or
stored for later installation.”[xiv]
|
|
Rotable pool
|
“Supply's
inventory of repairable items is commonly referred to as the ‘rotable pool’ or
just the ‘pool’."[xv]
|
|
Note: Two
definitions include qualifying statements.
The USAF
definition for reparable includes
this addendum: “This term suggests the logistics
status rather than the condition of an item.”[xvi]
The IRS
definition for a rotable is further explained as: “flight
equipment rotable spare parts and assemblies are tangible property for which
depreciation is allowable while expendable flight equipment spare parts are
materials and supplies.”[xvii]
|
|
Summary
In short,
two broadly applicable definitions will work well in most logistics
conversations regarding spare parts:[xviii]
1. Consumable items are typically low-cost items that are consumed in use.
Consumable items also lose their identity when installed on higher assemblies
(you do not distinguish the part from the whole). It is usually physically or
economically infeasible to repair failed consumable items—better to replace
them. Common consumables include nuts, bolts, paint, wire, solder, memory chips,
and brackets.
2.
Reparable
items are high-cost items that are not consumed in
use. It is often mechanically and economically feasible to repair these items. Examples
of reparables (which retain their identity when in use) include items such as
radios, radar units, engine components, or landing gear.
Readiness-based
sparing methodologies are commonly applied to the management of inventories of
reparable items and select (typically higher-cost) consumable items.
If you are
still confused, don’t fret, you are not alone. The very etymologies of
reparable and repairable differ. Reparable comes from the Latin reparabilis meaning “able to be restored or regained,” while repair (and repairable) comes from the Latin reparare meaning “to restore, put back
in order.”[xix] Obviously, the need for repairing and
maintaining equipment goes back a long, long time!
 |
| “Staff Sgt. Christopher Matthews, an aerospace propulsion systems craftsman with the 52nd Component Maintenance Squadron, inspects an F-16 Fighting Falcon exhaust nozzle March 16, 2010, at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.”[xx] (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force) |
* With a sincere
thanks and acknowledgment to George and Ira Gershwin for their timeless music
and corruptible lyrics. Also, a special thanks to Maggie Wise for her review
and very helpful suggestions regarding this posting.
[i]
U.S. Navy Photograph by Mass Communication
Specialist 2nd Class Dominique Pineiro/Released, USS New Orleans (LPD 18), downloaded
from http://www.navy.mil/management/photodb/photos/120124-N-PB383-789.jpg
on 6 Mar 2013.
[ii] Department of the Air
Force. The USAF Supply Manual. AFM 23-110, Vol I, Pt. 1, Chap 1, “General
and Administrative,” Atch 1A-1 (Definitions and Supporting Information),
Washington: HQ USAF, 31 Mar 2005. (p. 1-102)
[iii] McCann, Colonel John A.,
USAF (Ret.), ed. Compendium of Authenticated Systems and Logistics Terms,
Definitions, and Acronyms.
AU-AFIT-LS-3-71. School of
Systems and Logistics, AFIT, Wright-Patterson AFB OH, 1981. (p. 637)
[iv] APICS, APICS Dictionary,
definition downloaded from http://www.apics.org/industry-content-research/publications/apics-dictionary
on 10 March 2013.
[v] Office of the Deputy Under
Secretary of Defense for Logistics and Materiel Readiness (DUSD[L&MR]), DoD
Supply Chain Materiel Management Regulation, DoD 4140.1-R, 23 May 2003.
(p. 192)
[vi] Department of the Air
Force, 2005. (p. 1-73)
[vii] McCann (p. 627)
[viii] United Kingdom Ministry
of Defence. Defence Logistics Support Chain Manual. JSP 886, Vol 2, Part 6 “Financial Accounting
for Inventory,” Ver. 1-5, 5 February 2013, p. 8. Downloaded from
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/73215/jsp886_vol2_pt6_fin_acct_for_Inv_v1-5.pdf
on 22 Apr 2013.
[ix] McCann (p. 273)
[x] McCann (p. 571)
[xi] Department of
Defense. Department of Defense
Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, Joint Publication 1-02, 8
November 2010 (As Amended Through 15 October 2011). (p. 288)
[xii] Department of the Navy. Supply Appendices. NAVSUP P-485 Volume II - Supply Appendices,
Revision 4, Glossary of Supply Abbreviations, Acronyms and Terms, Part B:
Terms, Naval Supply Systems Command, NAVSUP HQ, 18 May 2009. (p. G-86)
[xiii] Department of the
Army. Logistics Provisioning of U.S.
Army Equipment. Army Regulation
700–18. Washington, DC, Headquarters, 20
September 2009. (Page 31) Downloaded
from http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r700_18.pdf on 6 March 2012.
[xiv] U.S. Government,
Internal Revenue Service. Internal
Revenue Bulletin: 2012-14, T.D. 9564 Guidance Regarding Deduction and
Capitalization of Expenditures Related to Tangible Property, April 2,
2012. Downloaded from
http://www.irs.gov/irb/2012-14_IRB/ar05.html
on 14 Dec 2013.
[xv] Wirwille, James W. and
William T. Ainsworth. Analysis of a
Proposal to Consolidate Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Capabilities. MS Thesis, Naval Postgraduate School,
Monterey CA, December 1991 (AD-A246187). (p. 22)
[xvi] Department of the Air
Force, 2005. (p. 1-102)
[xvii] U. S. Government. Federal Register. Guidance Regarding
Deduction and Capitalization of Expenditures Related to Tangible Property - A
Rule by the Internal Revenue Service on 09/19/2013. Downloaded from
https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2013/09/19/2013-21756/guidance-regarding-deduction-and-capitalization-of-expenditures-related-to-tangible-property
on 14 Dec 2013.
[xviii] Pankonin, Captain
George C. and Captain David K. Peterson. A Spares Stockage Algorithm for
Low-Density Equipment. MS thesis, AFIT/GLM/33-82. School of Systems and Logistics, Air Force
Institute of Technology (AU), Wright-Patterson AFB OH, September 1982 (ADA123709).
(pgs. 8-9).
[xix] Harper, Douglas. Online
Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=repair&searchmode=none. Accessed 14 December 2013.
[xx]
U.S. Air Force Photograph by Airman 1st Class
Nick Wilson, downloaded from http://www.af.mil/News/Photos.aspx?igphoto=2000293449 on 15 December 2013.
