Integrated production, statistical process control, and maintenance policy for unreliable manufacturing systems

• Published in: International journal of production research Vol. 57; no. 8; pp. 2548 - 2570
• Main Authors: Bahria, Nadia, Chelbi, Anis, Bouchriha, Hanen, Dridi, Imen Harbaoui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Taylor & Francis 18.04.2019; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: batch manufacturing systems; buffer stock; Buffer stocks; Buffers; control chart; Control charts; Control limits; Costs; Integrated approach; integrated production-quality-maintenance policies; Maintenance costs; perfect maintenance; preventive and corrective maintenance; Process controls; Quality control; Robust control; Robustness (mathematics); Sensitivity analysis; Statistical process control; X-bar charts
• DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2018.1530472
• ISSN: 0020-7543

The objective of this paper is to develop an integrated approach for the joint control of production, maintenance and quality for batch manufacturing systems. We consider such systems that are subject to degradation which is at the origin of the production of defective units. The quality control of lots produced is performed using an 'x-bar' control chart. This graphical tool will allow estimating the quality of the batch being produced and possibly undertake perfect preventive or corrective maintenance actions on the production system. A buffer stock is built to maintain continuity of supply during maintenance actions. The incurred total cost includes setup cost, inventory costs, the cost of unused products, maintenance costs and quality costs. Decision variables include the buffer stock size, the sample size, the sampling interval, the surveillance and the control limits of the control chart. Numerical experiments and sensitivity analyses are provided to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed control policy and the robustness of the solving approach.