Preventive maintenance and replacement policies for deteriorating production systems subject to imperfect repairs

• Published in: International journal of production research Vol. 49; no. 12; pp. 3543 - 3563
• Main Authors: Nodem, F.I. Dehayem, Gharbi, A., Kenné, J.-P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis Group 15.06.2011; Taylor & Francis; Taylor & Francis LLC
• Subjects: Applied sciences; damage failures; Decision analysis; Decision theory. Utility theory; Exact sciences and technology; Failure; Failure analysis; Industrial metrology. Testing; Instandhaltung; Inventory control, production control. Distribution; Maintenance; manufacturing systems; Markov analysis; Markov-Kette; Mathematical analysis; Mathematical models; Mechanical engineering. Machine design; Numerical analysis; numerical methods; Operational research and scientific management; Operational research. Management science; optimal control; Policies; Preventive maintenance; Produktionssystem; Reliability theory. Replacement problems; repair; Repair time; Repairing; replacement; Studies; Theorie; numerical methods; Markov decision; Replacement problem; Optimal policy; Optimization; damage failures; Breakdown; Defect; manufacturing systems; Infinite horizon; Repair; Age; Damaging; Production system; Integration; Sensitivity analysis; Average cost; Rupture; Replacement; Maintenance; Failure rate; Failures; Switching; Preventive maintenance; Production management; Break up time; Deterioration; Optimal control; Planning; Reliability
• ISSN: 0020-7543; 1366-588X
• DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2010.492798

This paper presents a special case of integration of the preventive maintenance into the repair/replacement policy of a failure-prone system. The machine of the considered system exhibits increasing failure intensity and increasing repair times. To reduce the failure rate and subsequent repair times following a failure, there is an incentive to perform preventive maintenance on the machine before failure. When a failure occurs, the machine can be repaired or replaced by a new one. Thus the machine's mode at any time can be classified as either operating, in repair, in replacement or in preventive maintenance. The decision variables of the system are the repair/replacement switching age or number of failures at the time of the machine's failure and the preventive maintenance rate. The problem of determining the repair/replacement and preventive maintenance policies is formulated as a semi-Markov decision process and numerical methods are given in order to compute optimal policies which minimise the average cost incurred by preventive maintenance, repair and replacement over an infinite planning horizon. As expected, the decisions to repair or to replace the machine upon a failure are modified by performing preventive maintenance. A numerical example is given and a sensitivity analysis is performed to illustrate the proposed approach and to show the impact of various parameters on the control policies thus obtained.