For a complex engineering system containing thousands of assemblies, sub-assemblies, components, organized into several levels of indenture and with a number of possible repair decisions, LORA seeks to determine an optimal provision of repair and maintenance facilities to minimize overall system life-cycle costs.
Logistics personnel examine not only the cost of the part to be replaced or repaired but all of the elements required to make sure the job is done correctly.
Intermediate-level maintenance deployment can vary widely, and is highly dependent on desired operating conditions.
These sites are typically not at operating locations, and extensive diagnostic equipment and possibly even manufacturing capabilities exist.
Non-economic LORA decision criteria are a list of rules or guidelines that are used to determine if there is an overriding reason why maintenance should be performed.
Some organizations have policies that any item costing less than a predetermined price level will be discarded and replaced rather than be repaired.