Joint optimisation of inspection maintenance and spare parts provisioning: a comparative study of inventory policies using simulation and survey data

• Published in: Reliability engineering & system safety Vol. 168; pp. 306 - 316
• Main Authors: Zahedi-Hosseini, Farhad, Scarf, Philip, Syntetos, Aris
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Barking Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2017; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Comparative studies; Computer simulation; Delay-time; Industrial plants; Inspection; Inventory; Joint optimisation; Maintenance; Optimization; Policies; Provisioning; Reliability engineering; Repair & maintenance; Replenishment; Simulation; Spare parts; Spare parts; Maintenance; Simulation; Delay-time; Joint optimisation
• ISSN: 0951-8320; 1879-0836
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ress.2017.03.007

The demand for industrial plant spare parts is driven, at least in part, by maintenance requirements. It is therefore important to jointly optimise planned maintenance and the associated spare parts inventory using the most appropriate maintenance and replenishment policies. In this simulation-based study, we address this challenge in the context of the random failure of parts in service and the replacement of defective parts at inspections of period T. Inspections are modelled using the delay-time concept. A number of simultaneous periodic review and continuous review replenishment policies are compared. A paper making plant provides a real context for the presentation of our ideas. We survey practitioners working with such plant to collect real data that inform the values of parameters in the models. Our simulation results indicate that a periodic review policy with ordering that is twice as frequent as inspection is cost optimal in the context of the plant that we study. For the purpose of comparison, we also present and discuss the characteristics of the various policies considered. •Joint cost-optimisation of planned maintenance and spares inventory policies.•Inventory policies considered for their effectiveness with planned maintenance.•A range of policy characteristics other than just cost presented.•A flexible methodology for inventory management for maintenance is described.