The Alternate Part Analysis groups together parts that share the same "form, fit, and function". These related parts may be fully interchangeable; conversely, one or more parts may supersede others. A graphical representation helps the user visualize the individual relationships between parts. Information sources may include manufacturer specifications, illustrated parts catalogs (IPCs), non-OEM manufacturer part relationships, internal company engineering documents, internal company part numbers, and purchase order part substitutions. Common applications include: integrating two or more inventories upon the merger of business entities, merging existing and new product lines, system audits, and competitive analysis. Common industries include aviation and aerospace; manufacturing and distribution; and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO).

1. • Do you purchase components when satisfactory alternate
parts are present in your on-hand inventory?
• Are you aware of and can you visualize all of your
superseding part relationships?
• Can your inventory planners capture both total usage and
total on-hand inventory for all alternate parts before making
procurement decisions?
Features
The Alternate Part Analysis by Houston Informatics provides a host of features:
• Analyzes and reports alternate part relationships using ‘Part Groups’
• Creates a ‘Part Group ID’ useful for aggregating usage and on-hand inventory
• Clarifies part relationships using diagrams and a dynamic visualization tool
• Illuminates both one- and two-way relationships between parts
• Identifies improperly built part numbers by spotting manual keying errors
• Identifies and flags customer-specified anomalies for further review
• Offers many configuration options for characterizing the relationship between alternate parts
• Facilitates the integration of new parts and the audit of existing systems

2. The Problem
New part numbers are constantly being introduced into inventory
and maintenance systems. Manufacturer configuration and in-house
engineering documents sometimes don’t reflect the ways that parts
are used in actual practice. It is often difficult to understand the
relationship between alternate parts.
Our Solution
Part groupings create an association of related alternate parts. This is
very useful for usage and inventory analysis purposes. Beyond simply
grouping these parts, we can show graphically the individual part-to-
part relationships within the part group and the information source
that established those relationships.
Houston Informatics LLC
7007 Kelsey Rae Court, Houston, TX 77069
CONTACT
Tom Chambers • Managing Director
+1-281-713-6488
Tom.Chambers@HouInfo.com
HoustonInformatics.com
© Houston Informatics LLC 2015. All rights reserved.
• Engineering Orders
• OEM Configuration
• Non-OEM Part Relationships
• Internal Company Part Number
• Purchase Order Substitutions (2)
• Repair Order Exchanges (2)
• Compressed Part Number (3)
1 Items in the Order of Precedence list
can be added, reordered or removed.
2 PO substitutions and Repair Order
exchanges both show how part number
substitutions are actually being made.
To avoid analyzing one-time errors, you
may want to specify a threshold number
of transactions that must have occurred
to considered in the analysis.
3 ‘Compressed Part Numbers’ exclude
all characters except for alphabetic
and numeric characters. Spaces are
specifically excluded. This process helps
identify part numbers that may have been
built incorrectly. For example, ‘Part-1’,
‘Part 1’ and ‘Part1’ may all refer
to the same numbered component.
(You may also wish to look for
duplicate part numbers by checking
for o/O/0 and l/1 substitutions.)
4 The analysis has been designed to avoid
circular dominant connections between
parts. This is particularly important when
one way relationships exist – we seek
to avoid ambiguous situations such as
A B C A.
The strength of the relationship between two distinct part
numbers is governed by the Order of Precedence
The Information Source Order of Precedence ranks the most authoritative sources at the
top of the list. Less reliable information sources are placed below the more reliable ones.
Once any source defines a relationship between two parts, any information source that is
less reliable is not considered.
In the diagram below, the ‘Dominant Connection’ shows the strongest single relationship
that adds any particular part to the group. This simplifies the model visually. The non-
dominant connections can be either displayed or hidden.
Establishing the Part Groups
Defining Part Groups
If Part A is an alternate for Part B, and Part B is an alternate for Part C, we
can state that all three parts have the same form, fit and function; we will
say that all three are in the same part group. Some parts in the group may
be obsolete; others may be active but are superseded by other parts for
certain uses. Relationships can be one-way (i.e. superseding) or two-way
(i.e. fully interchangeable.)
Creating Part Groups
All alternate part relationships are created by (1) connecting two parts, or by
(2) connecting an individual part to a shared attribute like a manufacturer’s
specification.
Initially, an ungrouped relationship Part A Part B is added to a new
group. We then search for all parts (or attributes) that are alternates for
Part A (A C and A D) and all parts that are alternates for Part B
(B E). We then look for all parts that are alternates for Parts C, D, and E.
This process continues until there are no parts or attributes left to be added
to the group. We then move on to the next group.
Information sources are associated with part relationships in the order
shown by the Information Source Order of Precedence. If a relationship
can be defined by a highly authoritative source (e.g. documentation
from Engineering or the manufacturer), there is no need to consider less
authoritative sources and they are ignored.
Refining Part Groups
The process now becomes iterative. Relationships based on incorrect
information can be removed in subsequent runs of the analysis. This has
the effect of splitting into separate groups those parts that were identified
as related but which are actually unrelated. If a part group is missing
certain alternate parts, those missing part relationships may be added. The
cycle is repeated until all errors have been eliminated.
Our Commitment is to You
We are committed to providing you excellent service in support of
yourobjectives.Mostaspectsoftheanalysisarehighlyconfigurable
and we can tailor the service to your exact requirements. Please
contact us for further information and to discuss how Houston
Informatics can support your operation.
Part-2-MOD
OEM Configuration Company Part Number
ENGINEERING ORDER
OEMSPECIFICATION
OEMSPECIFICATION
COMPANY PART
ASSOCIATION
COMPANYPARTASSOCIATION
COMPANY
PART
ASSOCIATION
COMPRESSED PART
NUMBER RELATIONSHIPPO SUBSTITUTION
NON-OEM
SUPPLIERPART
RELATIONSHIP
Dominant
Connection
Non-Dominant
Connection
OEM Part2OEM Part-2OEM Part-1
Non-OEM
Supplier
RELATED
SERVICES
Statistically strong, service level driven forecasts of spare inventory
requirements that supports both scheduled and highly intermittent
non-scheduled maintenance events.
HIGH
LOW
INFORMATIONRELIABILITY
Information Source Order of Precedence
Applying the Knowledge Gained
• Visually display the relationship between all alternate
parts in a part group
• Aggregate both historical usage and on-hand inventory
by part group to forecast material requirements
• Highlight ‘de facto alternates’ created by shop floor
actions, not authorized by engineering documents
• Visually trace superseding part relationships
• Perform time-series analysis of material usage and
inventory
• Identify incorrectly built part numbers
• Integrate new parts into your system
• Audit your existing alternate part configuration against
engineering / manufacturer documents