As a part of TCRP Project E-3, Inventory Management for Bus and Rail Public Transit Systems, U.S. transit agencies were surveyed for information on current inventory management practices, benchmarking the values of performance measurement indices use, and analyzing the impact of organization and policy decisions on inventory performance.

The survey process used during the research phase yielded valuable information regarding the interrelationships between inventory management and organizational decision factors. However, the conclusions based on the information are preliminary at best. Therefore, the conclusions should be developed into hypotheses for more detailed testing in a more controlled environment, where individual effects can be more effectively isolated and quantified.

The objectives of TCRP Project E-3A were (1) to further isolate and the test results in a real environment considering demographics, fleet size, and composition, organization, inventory management practices, performance and technology, and information systems; and (2) using a controlled environment test, to demonstrate that the conclusions reached from the research phase were valid or to identify adjustments required to implement the conclusions in "real world" conditions.

Status: The final report has been published as TCRP Research Results Digest 40, "Revised Inventory Management Desk Guide." The digest summarizes the results from five case studies conducted and analyzed to determine the relationship between inventory control and management, the conditions under which inventory management techniques are best applied, and the solutions to potential problems when applying the inventory control techniques. The final report describes the research approach and the analyses performed during the course of the TCRP E-3A Project. The report is available asTCRP Web Document 17 in portable document format (PDF). (A free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader is available at https://www.adobe.com.) Click on the link below to access the report. NOTE: Because of the very large size of this file, it will take some time to download. We regret the inconvenience.

TCRP Web Document 17

TCRP Research Results Digest 40