IRVING, Texas, July 16, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Entercoms Inc., a leading provider of supply chain solutions for service supply chains, announced the debut of SpareX today. SpareX is a cloud-based digital spare parts planning technology product that completely overhauls and simplifies spare parts planning.

SpareX enables companies to have all the warranty support and revenue generating spare parts available at the right place, at the right time while optimizing the total cost to serve in positioning the spare part. SpareX provides the functionality to create a best-fit forecast, identify and automatically correct one-time demand outliers, generate new buy and repair purchase orders, set target stock levels across a multi-echelon network and generate replenishment and redistribution orders. The underlying principle is exception identification to automate spare parts planning and to prioritize alerts for planner review on an exception basis. Inventory investments are optimized by considering numerous factors like the lifecycle of the part (new product, sustaining or end of life), part chaining, part attributes (such as part criticality), location attributes (such as proximity to the customer), demand variation and supplier lead time variability.

SpareX's sophisticated forecasting algorithms incorporate machine learning, artificial intelligence and have the ability to interpret multiple signals from connected devices to optimize the target stock levels across a multi-echelon, global network. It accounts for network rebalancing, zone replenishment, regional repair, new buy, and part substitutes.  Its automated closed loop, root cause analytics engine coupled with key process performance monitors help establish a continuous self-learning inventory planning process. SpareX uses lifecycle-based forecasting algorithms which go above and beyond traditional demand-based forecasting algorithms. These are critical when planning spare parts in the new product and the end of life phase.

The announcement comes on the heels of the issuance of the company's recently received U.S. Patent Number 10,262,297, Part Chain Management in an Aftermarket Services Industry, from the United States Patent and Trademark Office on April 16, 2019. SpareX will leverage Entercoms' part chaining patent to optimize inventory investment and maximize part availability

With the service economy exploding and with it the increased need for replacement parts, SpareX will be able to help companies solve their most complex challenges in spare parts planning and take their business to the next level.

"As the world moves towards a service-based economy, SpareX provides the functionality and algorithms that will help maximize spare parts availability and minimize the cash invested in meeting the customer promise. Leveraging our planning process expertise, coupled with our part chaining patent and lifecycle-based forecasting techniques, SpareX provides organizations with a scalable end to end planning solution that will help improve the planning outcomes" said Dr. Rahul Singh, CEO and co-founder of Entercoms.