The Complete Guide to Optimizing PAR Levels Using AI Solutions 

In aviation procurement, maintaining optimal inventory levels can feel like walking a tightrope. Overstocking drains working capital and inflates carrying costs, while understocking risks operational delays—including dreaded Aircraft on Ground (AOG) scenarios. 

Achieving this balance is where PAR (Periodic Automatic Replenishment) levels play a critical role.

Traditionally, optimizing PAR levels has involved manual processes prone to inefficiencies and errors. However, AI solutions like InventoryAI, Parts Analyzer, and AeroGenie are transforming inventory management in the aviation sector, enabling precise and proactive decision-making.

AI technology brings precision, automation, and real-time insights to inventory management, enabling procurement teams to ensure the right parts are available at the right time and in the right place.

This guide will explore the significance of PAR levels, the challenges in managing them, and how ePlaneAI’s products deliver tailored solutions to overcome the limitations of traditional workflows.

What are PAR levels?

PAR levels define the minimum stock quantity needed to meet operational requirements during a replenishment cycle. They are meant to ensure sufficient inventory for maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) activities without overstocking or risking shortages.

For instance, a PAR level for brake pads might consider:

• Average usage rates
• Supplier lead times
• Extra stock for emergencies

When procurement teams calculate these levels accurately, they can reduce waste, minimize downtime, and improve overall operational efficiency.

PAR levels vs smart stock replenishment

While both PAR levels and smart stock replenishment aim to optimize inventory management, they differ significantly in their approach and application. Together, they create a comprehensive strategy for maintaining efficient stock levels in aviation procurement.

PAR levels rely on static thresholds to maintain inventory for predictable, steady-demand items. These thresholds trigger reorders when the stock drops below a pre-set level, ensuring routine operational readiness.

Smart stock replenishment, on the other hand, is a dynamic, AI-driven approach that adapts to real-time data and external factors. By leveraging predictive analytics, this method adjusts inventory levels based on historical usage, demand fluctuations, supplier variability, and external influences such as weather or geopolitical risks. This adaptability makes smart stock replenishment ideal for high-value components and items with volatile demand.

Different types of inventory are well-suited to each approach:

• Best suited for PAR levels: Brake pads, air filters, seat covers, safety vests, oxygen masks, fasteners, adhesives, light bulbs for cabin interiors, and basic wiring kits.
• Best suited for smart replenishment: Engine components, avionics modules, landing gear assemblies, high-composite materials, sensors, radar equipment, flight control systems, hydraulic systems, and emergency power units.

Certain parts, like tires or routine consumables, are versatile in their management method, as their demand can shift between predictable and unpredictable depending on operational factors like peak seasons, unexpected repairs, or maintenance cycles.

PAR levels are best for predictable demands 

PAR levels are predetermined thresholds for maintaining inventory. When the stock drops below a set PAR level, a reorder is triggered to restore it to the desired quantity.

This method is most effective for predictable, steady-demand items such as brake pads, filters, and other consumables.

Key features of PAR levels include:

• Simplicity: Easy to implement and manage, even with basic automation.
• Reliability: Critical stock availability for routine operations.
• Focus on steady demand: Suitable for items with consistent usage patterns.

However, PAR levels are less effective in handling fluctuating demand, unpredictable scenarios, or large-scale inventory challenges.

A dynamic, data-driven approach to smart stock replenishment

Both PAR levels and smart stock replenishment leverage AI to optimize inventory management, but they serve complementary purposes. While PAR levels use AI to maintain predictable stock thresholds, smart stock replenishment goes beyond by dynamically adjusting inventory levels in response to real-time changes.

This advanced approach incorporates historical usage, external factors (e.g., weather, geopolitical risks), and supplier variability, making it ideal for scenarios where demand is volatile or when managing high-value components.

Benefits of smart stock replenishment include:

• Adaptability: Dynamically responds to changing conditions.
• Risk mitigation: Helps avoid stockouts and reduces excess inventory.
• Efficiency: Integrates seamlessly with ERP systems for real-time insights.

Challenges in optimizing PAR levels

Achieving optimal PAR levels isn’t as simple as setting thresholds. The complexity multiplies for aviation companies operating a massive network of warehouses and storage centers. Stocking the right parts in the right quantities at each location requires granular planning and coordination. 

Several factors complicate this process:

Inaccurate demand forecasting

Traditional forecasting methods often fail to account for the nuances of seasonal trends, AOG scenarios, or unexpected demand spikes. These forecasting inaccuracies are exacerbated when managing inventory across multiple warehouses, as localized demand variations are often overlooked.

Siloed data systems

Disconnected procurement, inventory, and supplier platforms limit visibility into real-time stock levels, leading to inefficient distribution across the network. 

For instance, one warehouse might be overstocked with a part while another runs critically low, yet the lack of integration prevents the reallocation of resources.

Warehouse-specific stock levels

Each warehouse or storage facility may have unique demand patterns based on its proximity to specific hubs, maintenance facilities, or customer bases. Without dynamic tools, maintaining appropriate PAR levels at each site becomes a logistical challenge. 

Overcompensating for demand at one location can lead to costly surplus stock while understocking at another risks operational delays.

Manual workflows

While full reliance on spreadsheets is becoming less common in the aviation industry, manual workflows still dominate many areas of inventory management. These workflows often involve copying and pasting data between disconnected systems, such as ERP platforms, procurement software, and maintenance records. This disjointed approach creates inefficiencies and increases the risk of errors.

Real-time adjustments under these conditions become time-intensive, requiring manual coordination across locations. Delays in updating stock levels, supplier lead times, or part usage can cascade into larger disruptions, leading to missed opportunities to redistribute inventory and avoid shortages or overstocking.

AI-powered solutions eliminate these pain points by automating data integration and synchronization, providing aviation businesses with a unified, accurate view of their inventory network.

Supplier variability

Inconsistent lead times and varying quality levels from suppliers create further challenges in maintaining balanced stock across a network. A delay in delivery to one warehouse can ripple through the system, especially if other locations depend on the same supplier.

These inefficiencies don't just inflate costs—they also delay operations and weaken customer relationships. Misaligned stock levels across a network lead to missed opportunities, like failing to fulfill high-priority AOG requests or wasting resources on carrying unnecessary inventory at low-demand locations.

Aviation companies using AI-powered solutions can address these challenges and implement smarter, more flexible inventory management strategies that account for the complexities of multi-location operations.

How ePlaneAI products optimize PAR levels

ePlaneAI offers a suite of AI-driven solutions that blend precision, adaptability, and scalability to redefine inventory management in aviation. They’re designed to make PAR levels smarter and more flexible while maintaining their static foundation, differentiating them from smart stock replenishment approaches. Here’s how each product enhances PAR-level management:

EmailAI streamlines RFQ responses for inventory alignment

While EmailAI excels in assisting part suppliers with RFQ responses, its application in aviation inventory management for MROs and airlines is more limited. These organizations primarily focus on maintaining optimal stock levels rather than selling inventory. However, in cases where MROs or airlines need to liquidate excess parts, EmailAI can support this process by automating responses to RFQs and expediting transactions.

For broader inventory management needs, solutions like InventoryAI and Parts Analyzer are better suited to the challenges faced by MROs and airlines, offering tools to optimize PAR levels, anticipate demand, and maintain critical stock without unnecessary surpluses.

InventoryAI enhances PAR levels and bridges the gap to smart stock replenishment
InventoryAI modernizes traditional PAR-level strategies while also addressing the challenges of managing unpredictable demand. By introducing dynamic recalibration, InventoryAI ensures that PAR levels remain adaptable to changing operational needs without entirely shifting to smart stock replenishment.

Key features include:

• Dynamic PAR level recalibration: Automatically adjusts stock thresholds across a network of warehouses by analyzing real-time demand patterns, supplier performance, and operational priorities.
• Predictive analytics for both predictable and unpredictable demand: Anticipates inventory needs by integrating flight schedules, maintenance cycles, seasonal fluctuations, and external factors like weather and geopolitical risks. This capability ensures that both routine consumables and high-value components are available when needed.
• Real-time ERP integration: Connects seamlessly with platforms like Quantum or SAP to provide comprehensive visibility into stock levels, supplier availability, and demand variations across locations.

While InventoryAI excels in optimizing inventory for predictable, steady-demand parts, it also provides tools to mitigate risks for unpredictable demand. Its ability to recalibrate thresholds dynamically and forecast needs helps ensure operational continuity, whether for routine parts like brake pads or high-value components like avionics modules.

This dual capability allows ePlaneAI to offer a comprehensive inventory management solution, balancing the static foundation of PAR levels with the adaptability needed for managing unpredictable demand.

This tool ensures that PAR levels are continuously optimized for both routine operations and unforeseen spikes in demand, maintaining efficiency across a distributed network.

Parts Analyzer anticipates disruptions with global insights

Supply chain disruptions can destabilize PAR-level strategies, especially in multi-location operations. Parts Analyzer mitigates these risks by:

• Tracking global supply and demand fluctuations to identify potential shortages or price increases.
• Recommending alternative suppliers when disruptions occur, ensuring critical stock is always available.
• Analyzing market conditions to help aviation companies anticipate and adjust to volatility.

This proactive approach keeps inventory strategies resilient, even when external factors threaten supply chain stability.

AeroGenie unlocks actionable data insights

For PAR-level management to work effectively, decision-makers need seamless access to accurate data. AeroGenie simplifies data retrieval and reporting by:

• Translating natural language queries into SQL to generate real-time inventory insights.
• Producing detailed reports on stock usage, supplier performance, and inventory costs.
• Reducing the technical burden on teams, enabling faster, data-driven decisions.

AeroGenie empowers aviation companies to fine-tune PAR levels with actionable insights, ensuring inventory strategies remain aligned with business needs.

Benefits of optimizing PAR levels with ePlaneAI

ePlaneAI’s AI-powered tools transform PAR levels into a smarter, more adaptable framework for inventory management. As a platform, ePlaneAI combines automation, real-time data, and predictive analytics to deliver the following benefits:

• Reduced carrying costs: Dynamic recalibration of PAR levels ensures warehouses hold only what’s necessary, avoiding capital tied up in excess inventory.
• Minimized stockouts: Proactive insights and AI-driven forecasts maintain consistent operations by ensuring critical parts are always available.
• Improved multi-location efficiency: Tools like InventoryAI and AeroGenie enable tailored PAR-level strategies across a network of warehouses, accounting for unique demand patterns at each site.
• Faster AOG resolutions: Ensuring critical parts are available when and where they’re needed minimizes downtime and keeps operations running smoothly.
• Enhanced supplier partnerships: Data from Parts Analyzer helps build stronger relationships with reliable suppliers, improving long-term procurement outcomes and building more resilience into your supply chain.
• Smarter decision-making: Comprehensive, AI-driven insights empower teams to make informed inventory planning decisions with confidence.

Aviation companies can transform traditional PAR-level management into a scalable, resilient strategy that balances cost, availability, and operational readiness through the power of AI—harnessed by ePlaneAI. 

How to get started

Optimizing PAR levels doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here’s how to integrate ePlaneAI’s solutions into your workflow:

1. Start with InventoryAI: Optimize inventory thresholds to reduce overstocking and ensure critical parts are always available where needed.
2. Expand with Parts Analyzer: Monitor global supply and demand trends to anticipate shortages, identify opportunities, and adjust inventory strategies proactively.
3. Use AeroGenie for reporting: Generate actionable insights on stock usage, supplier performance, and inventory costs to enhance decision-making and refine strategies further.

Starting small and scaling up, you can quickly see measurable results, including reduced costs and improved operational efficiency.

No more guessing games

Optimizing PAR levels is no longer a guessing game. With tools likeInventoryAI,  Parts Analyzer and AeroGenie, ePlaneAI offers a comprehensive approach to inventory management tailored to the unique challenges of aviation procurement.

Take the first step toward streamlined inventory management. Contact ePlaneAI today and see how our solutions can optimize your PAR levels with ease.