LSA – Logistics Support Analysis
A systematic approach to planning logistic support that is economical and matched to actual demand
Logistics Support Analysis helps you plan the logistic requirements of complex technical systems early, make costs transparent and reduce them sustainably — across the entire life cycle of the system.
What is Logistics Support Analysis (LSA)?
Logistics Support Analysis — LSA for short — is a structured process for analysing and planning the logistic support of technical systems. It determines during development which resources, spare parts, skilled staff and infrastructure are needed to operate and maintain a system economically.
LSA is not an isolated analysis but an integral part of Integrated Product Support (IPS). While IPS describes the overall support approach, LSA focuses on the logistic aspects: spare parts planning, warehousing, supply chains, staff resources and the organisational support structure.
This allows cost-effective and supportable solutions to be engineered into the system from the outset rather than corrected later.
The figure below sums up what this analysis is aiming for:
What is the benefit of LSA for you?
- Cost efficiency – Life cycle costs fall sustainably through spare parts planning that matches demand and through stable supply chains.
- Assured availability – Optimised support structures and maintenance concepts keep downtime short.
- Reliable planning – The need for spare parts, skilled staff and infrastructure is established early and on a sound basis.
- Supply chain stability – Bottlenecks and obsolescence risks are identified and managed in advance.
- Design optimisation – Requirements from operation and logistics feed into development from the outset.
Are there established standards and specifications?
Yes. In the aerospace and defence sector, the internationally agreed ASD/AIA S-Series specifications have become the standard. The following are particularly relevant for LSA:
- S3000L
- MIL-STD-1388
These standards provide a common framework for planning, execution and data exchange across the entire product life cycle. LSA is usually not carried out in isolation but closely interlocked with all other IPS elements and with engineering — with technical documentation, training programmes, infrastructure and maintenance planning.
How does LSA work in practice?
LSA typically follows a structured sequence of phases:
- Identify Maintenance Significant Items (MSI) / candidates
- Analyse the system architecture — assess components and their criticality
- Identify maintenance-relevant items and potential MSI candidates
- Identify maintenance (Mx) tasks
- Analyse maintenance scenarios and operating conditions
- Determine the necessary maintenance activities per MSI
- Define maintenance intervals and frequencies
- Use FMECA and RCM as the basis for task identification
- Detail Mx resources
- Determine staff demand and qualification requirements
- Develop the spare parts strategy and stockholding concept
- Identify tools, equipment and infrastructure
- Build up supply chains and the supplier system
- Define Mx level
- Define the repair levels (LORA — Level of Repair Analysis)
- Carry out maintainability analysis, MTA and TNA
- Specify SSA and infrastructure requirements
- Define the TASE requirements
- Validation and optimisation
- Validate LSA results in the PDR, CDR and QRR reviews
- Check the support concept for consistency and suitability
- Optimise costs and logistics
- Update the concept as conditions change
The following figure shows how the LSA phases and their processes interlock within the design sequence:
The decisive point: LSA does not begin once the system has been developed. It runs alongside system design from the first concepts onwards — so supportability and lifecycle cost are engineered into the system from the outset.
How is LSA established successfully in a company?
Carrying out an LSA does not mean adopting every process of a standard unchanged. What matters is adapting the LSA activities to your product, your organisation, your project goals and your circumstances.
The π3C approach combines three dimensions:
- Method — LSA to standards
- Structured analysis of project needs by complexity, customer requirement and cost effectiveness
- Proven templates and processes
- Compliant with standards, yet pragmatic
- Organisation — guiding the change
- Clear roles and responsibilities
- Integration into existing project processes
- Training and knowledge transfer
- Support through IT service management principles
- Technology — going digital with πIX
- πIX platform for LSA data management
- Automated reporting
- Linkage with system data and IPS processes
- Data management across the product life cycle
The offering takes different starting points into account: whether you already have LSA processes in place or need resources to carry them out. The support reaches from strategic direction through planning to operational execution and continuous improvement — π3C supports you among other things with:
- Carrying out Logistics Support Analysis
- Spare parts and supply chain planning
- Developing support concepts
- Producing LSA reports and Initial Provisioning Lists
- Obsolescence management strategies
- Life cycle cost modelling
- Quality assurance and review of existing LSA results
- Transferring LSA data into the πIX platform
LSA and πIX — automated use of data
The πIX platform supports LSA with dedicated capabilities:
- LSA reports to MIL-STD-1388 and S3000L
- Automated assistants for data analysis
- Linkage with system structure and component data
- Generator for structured Initial Provisioning Lists
- Interfaces to IPS processes such as technical documentation and maintenance planning
Through this linkage, LSA does not remain an isolated analysis project but becomes an integrated data management process that is used and improved continuously.
Would you like to optimise your support structure, reduce costs or gain first experience with LSA? π3C develops an LSA solution tailored to your requirements.
Interested in an LSA for your systems?