Why is it that, despite the best efforts of management teams, the vast majority of spare parts inventories remain bloated with excess, surplus and obsolete items yet don’t provide the level of service expected by users?

It is almost impossible to be successful in any activity if you don’t fully understand the rules that govern success. By rules, I mean the way different elements of the activity interact and influence each other in order to achieve your goals. 

Three-dimensional (3-D) printing — or more correctly, Additive Manufacturing (AM) — has the potential to change everything with respect to spare parts inventory. As the technology develops, people will be able to manufacture parts at almost any location, at any time they choose.

With spare parts inventory, the real problem is that essentially all spare parts inventory stocking problems are really forecasting problems.