Inspection scheduling for imperfect production processes under free repair warranty contract

The paper considers scheduling of inspections for imperfect production processes where the process shift time from an ‘in-control’ state to an ‘out-of-control’ state is assumed to follow an arbitrary probability distribution with an increasing failure (hazard) rate and the products are sold with a free repair warranty (FRW) contract. During each production run, the process is monitored through inspections to assess its state. If at any inspection the process is found in ‘out-of-control’ state, then restoration is performed. The model is formulated under two different inspection policies: (i) no action is taken during a production run unless the system is discovered in an ‘out-of-control’ state by inspection and (ii) preventive repair action is undertaken once the ‘in-control’ state of the process is detected by inspection. The expected sum of pre-sale and post-sale costs per unit item is taken as a criterion of optimality. We propose a computational algorithm to determine the optimal inspection policy numerically, as it is quite hard to derive analytically. To ease the computational difficulties, we further employ an approximate method which determines a suboptimal inspection policy. A comparison between the optimal and suboptimal inspection policies is made and the impact of FRW on the optimal inspection policy is investigated in a numerical example.     

考虑不完全检测的冲击模型最优维修策略

针对制造系统中设备检测不完全的情形,研究基于不完全检测的冲击模型的周期检测、维修联合策略．通过定期检测获知系统的劣化状态以进行必要的预防性维修．在假设系统是退化的且有k个不同故障状态的条件下,以最小化系统运行成本为目标,以检测周期T、系统更换前故障次数Ⅳ为联合决策变量,利用更新过程理论建立了系统平均费用率C（T,N）的数学模型,并且给出最优联合策略的数值算法．最后借助数值例子演示了该模型,分析了检测水平对系统运行成本的影响．     

Optimally maintaining a Markovian deteriorating system with limited imperfect repairs

We consider the problem of optimally maintaining a periodically inspected system that deteriorates according to a discrete-time Markov process and has a limit on the number of repairs that can be performed before it must be replaced. After each inspection, a decision maker must decide whether to repair the system, replace it with a new one, or leave it operating until the next inspection, where each repair makes the system more susceptible to future deterioration. If the system is found to be failed at an inspection, then it must be either repaired or replaced with a new one at an additional penalty cost. The objective is to minimize the total expected discounted cost due to operation, inspection, maintenance, replacement and failure. We formulate an infinite-horizon Markov decision process model and derive key structural properties of the resulting optimal cost function that are sufficient to establish the existence of an optimal threshold-type policy with respect to the system’s deterioration level and cumulative number of repairs. We also explore the sensitivity of the optimal policy to inspection, repair and replacement costs. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the structure and the sensitivity of the optimal policy.     

Optimal inspection and perfect repair

Models are developed for decision making about monitoring andmaintenance of systems whose performance through time is describedby a general stochastic process. The system is monitored andpreventive and corrective maintenance actions are carried outin response to the observed system state. The decision processis simplified by using the maximum process as a decision variable.The models developed generalize age replacement models and othersimple maintenance strategies. The approach can deal with failuresthat prevent the system functioning further, and also failuresthat are defined by regulation or economic considerations. Attentionis restricted to perfect repair and inspection, but the structureprovides the framework for further developments.     

Maintenance scheduling of a protection system subject to imperfect inspection and replacement

An inspection and replacement policy for a protection system is described in which the inspection process is subject to error, and false positives (false alarms) and false negatives are possible. We develop two models: one in which a false positive implies renewal of the protection system; the other not. These models are motivated by inspection of a protection system on the production line of a beverage manufacturer. False negatives reduce the efficiency of inspection. Another notion of imperfect maintenance is also modelled: that of poor installation of a component at replacement. These different aspects of maintenance quality interact: false alarms can, in a worst case scenario, lead to the systematic and unnecessary replacement of good components by poor components, thus reducing the availability of the system. The models also allow situations in which maintenance quality differs between alternative maintainers to be investigated.     

The impact of inspection errors,imperfect maintenance and minimal repairs on an imperfect production system

This paper develops an integrated model of production lot-sizing, maintenance and quality for considering the possibilities of inspection errors, preventive maintenance (PM) errors and minimal repairs for an imperfect production system with increasing hazard rates. In this study, a PM activity is imperfect in that a production system cannot be recovered as good as new and might cause the production system to shift to the out-of-control state with a certain probability. Numerical analyses are used to simulate the effect of changes in various parameters on the optimal solution for which the time that the process remains in the in-control state is assumed to follow a Weibull distribution. In addition, we investigate the effects of inspection errors and PM errors on the minimum total cost of the optimal inspection interval, inspection frequency and production quantity.     

考虑非周期检测的视情维修与备件订购联合策略优化

针对单部件系统/关键部件提出视情维修与备件订购联合策略,其中系统退化服从两阶段延迟时间过程且采用非周期检测策略,退化初期以检测间隔T₁检查系统状态,而在第一次识别缺陷状态时,缩短检测周期为T₂、订购备件且进行不完美维修;若系统在随后的退化中被识别处于缺陷状态,执行不完美维修直至超过阈值次数N_max并采取预防性更换,但若在检测周期内发生故障则进行更换。根据系统状态和备件状态分析各种可能更新事件及相应的联合决策,利用更新报酬理论构建最小化单位时间内期望成本的目标函数,优化T₁,T₂, N_max。与对比模型策略相比,算例结果表明所提出的联合策略能有效降低单位时间内的期望成本。     

Optimal maintenance policy in a multistate deteriorating standby system

An optimal maintenance policy for a multistate deteriorating standby system is proposed in this study. Traditionally, a system could only presume two operational states: success or failure, and the maintenance policy is to determine the optimal number of standby components, subject to factors such as maintenance capability, cost of the standby items, etc., so as to minimize the operational cost. This study considers a more general production system in which progressive deterioration is incurred during the operating time, hence resulting in degrading performance. By modeling the system as a multistate deteriorating system, an optimal maintenance policy is obtained by determining the optimal number of standby components required in the system and the optimal state in which the replacement of deteriorating components shall be made.     

A sequential condition‐based repair/replacement policy with non‐periodic inspections for a system subject to continuous wear

This paper studies a condition‐based maintenance policy for a repairable system subject to a continuous‐state gradual deterioration monitored by sequential non‐periodic inspections. The system can be maintained using different maintenance operations (partial repair, as good as new replacement) with different effects (on the system state), costs and durations. A parametric decision framework (multi‐threshold policy) is proposed to choose sequentially the best maintenance actions and to schedule the future inspections, using the on‐line monitoring information on the system deterioration level gained from the current inspection. Taking advantage of the semi‐regenerative (or Markov renewal) properties of the maintained system state, we construct a stochastic model of the time behaviour of the maintained system at steady state. This stochastic model allows to evaluate several performance criteria for the maintenance policy such as the long‐run system availability and the long‐run expected maintenance cost. Numerical experiments illustrate the behaviour of the proposed condition‐based maintenance policy. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The availability model and parameters estimation method for the delay time model with imperfect maintenance at inspection

The delay time model (DTM) is widely used to model the two-stage failure process and is helpful for developing cost-effective inspection/maintenance plans. Imperfect maintenance is common in practice, but seldom considered in DTM. An improved DTM with imperfect maintenance at inspection has been developed based on the assumption of imperfect inspection maintenance and perfect failure maintenance. The model of the long-run availability for the improved DTM is established. Parameters estimation method and the test for goodness of fit method are given. Numerical simulations are performed to study the influence of imperfect maintenance on the long-run availability and to validate the credibility of the parameters estimation method. The results show that imperfect maintenance will decrease the long-run availability. The existence of the optimal inspection interval regarding the maximum long-run availability is tightly related to the improvement factor, which denotes the maintenance effect. The parameters estimation method proves credible. The maximum likelihood estimations of the reliability parameters can be easily achieved by the Genetic Algorithms (GAs) searching tool.     

Optimal Replacement Policy for a General Model with Imperfect Repair

A general model is considered which incorporates imperfect repair and repair cost which depends on time and on the number of repairs in the cycle. This model is an extension of models examined previously in the literature. The objective of this paper is to find the optimal replacement policy and compare it with the replacement policies considered earlier for some variants of this model. The form of the optimal replacement policy is found in the general case and the expected average cost per unit time is derived in two special cases. Numerical examples show that the optimal policy is considerably better than the optimal periodic policy. This paper generalizes and unifies previous research in the area.     

A bivariate optimal replacement policy for a system subject to a generalized failure and repair process

Traditionally, in the studies of the optimal maintenance policies for repairable systems, the nonhomogeneous Poisson process model, which corresponds to the minimal repair process, has been intensively applied. However, in many practical situations, the repair type is not necessarily minimal. In this article, a new repair process based on a new counting process model (so‐called the generalized Polya process) is introduced. Then, the issue of the optimal replacement problem is discussed. A bivariate preventive replacement policy is developed and the properties of the optimal policy are studied. Illustrative examples are also presented. In addition, a comparison with a conventional replacement policy is performed.     

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本文考虑了一个其产品保修期内免费小修的退化 生产系统的定期检修策略. 系统的退化过程包括三个状态: 可控制状态, 不可控制状态, 故障状态. 过程呆在可控制状态和不可控制状态的时间假设都服从指数分布. 生产系统在固定的时刻t或发生故障时进行检修, 两者以先发生为准. 本文讨论了使单位产品每周期期望成本最小的最优定期检修时间本文考虑了一个其产品保修期内免费小修的退化生产系统的定期检修策略.系统的退化过程包括三个状态:可控制状态,不可控制状态,故障状态.过程呆在可控制状态和不可控制状态的时间假设都服从指数分布.生产系统在固定的时刻t﹡或发生故障时进行检修,两者以先发生为准.本文讨论了使单位产品每周期期望成本最小的最优定期检修时间t﹡,三种特殊情况显示了最优值t的性质.此外,灵敏性分析和数字实例说明了模型中的参数对最优定期检修策略的影响.     

Hybrid block replacement and inspection policies for a multi-component system with heterogeneous component lives

Novel replacement policies that are hybrids of inspection maintenance and block replacement are developed for an n identical component series system in which the component parts used at successive replacements arise from a heterogeneous population. The heterogeneous nature of components implies a mixed distribution for time to failure. In these circumstances, a hybrid policy comprising two phases, an early inspection phase and a later wear-out replacement phase, may be appropriate. The policy has some similarity to burn-in maintenance. The simplest policy described is such a hybrid and comprises a block-type or periodic replacement policy with an embedded block or periodic inspection policy. We use a three state failure model, in which a component may be good, defective or failed, in order to consider inspection maintenance. Hybrid block replacement and age-based inspection, and opportunistic hybrid policies will also arise naturally in these circumstances and these are briefly investigated. For the simplest policy, an approximation is used to determine the long-run cost and the system reliability. The policies have the interesting property that the system reliability may be a maximum when the long-run cost is close to its minimum. The failure model implies that the effect of maintenance is heterogeneous. The policies themselves imply that maintenance is carried out more prudently to newer than to older systems. The maintenance of traction motor bearings on underground trains is used to illustrate the ideas in the paper.     

Optimizing Preventive Maintenance Models

We deal with the problem of scheduling preventive maintenance (PM) for a system so that, over its operating life, we minimize a performance function which reflects repair and replacement costs as well as the costs of the PM itself. It is assumed that a hazard rate model is known which predicts the frequency of system failure as a function of age. It is also assumed that each PM produces a step reduction in the effective age of the system. We consider some variations and extensions of a PM scheduling approach proposed by Lin et al. [6]. In particular we consider numerical algorithms which may be more appropriate for hazard rate models which are less simple than those used in [6] and we introduce some constraints into the problem in order to avoid the possibility of spurious solutions. We also discuss the use of automatic differentiation (AD) as a convenient tool for computing the gradients and Hessians that are needed by numerical optimization methods. The main contribution of the paper is a new problem formulation which allows the optimal number of occurrences of PM to be determined along with their optimal timings. This formulation involves the global minimization of a non-smooth performance function. In our numerical tests this is done via the algorithm DIRECT proposed by Jones et al. [19]. We show results for a number of examples, involving different hazard rate models, to give an indication of how PM schedules can vary in response to changes in relative costs of maintenance, repair and replacement. Part of this work was carried out while the first author was a Visiting Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta in December 2003.     

Optimal Repair Limit Replacement Policies with Imperfect Repair

This paper considers the repair limit replacement policies with imperfect repair. The repair is imperfect in the sense that the mean life of a repaired system is less than the mean life of a new system. Furthermore, we examine the repair limit replacement policy for the case in which there are two types of repair-local and central repair. The local repair is imperfect whilst the central repair is perfect (i.e. the system is as good as new after central repair). The optimal policies are derived to minimize the expected cost per unit of time for an infinite time span. Analytical results are presented along with numerical examples.     

修理工单重定期休假可修系统更换模型研究

针对修理工带有单重休假的单部件可修系统,提出了一种新的维修更换模型.假定系统是可修的,逐次故障后的维修时间构成随机递增的几何过程,系统工作时间构成随机递增的几何过程,在修理工休假时间为定长的情况下,分别选取系统的总工作时间T和故障维修次数N为更换策略,以长期运行单位时间内的期望效益为目标函数,通过更新过程和几何过程理论建立数学模型,导出了目标函数的解析表达式,通过最大化目标函数来获取系统最优的更换策略T*和N*.并在一定条件下给出了策略N比策略T优的充分条件.最后,通过数值例子验证了方法的有效性.     

Optimal scheduling of non-perfect inspections

^** Corresponding author. Email: romulo.zequeira{at}utt.fr^*** Email: christophe.berenguer{at}utt.fr In this paper, we study the determination of optimal inspectionpolicies when three types of inspections are available: partial,perfect and imperfect. Perfect inspections diagnose withouterror the system state. The system can fail because of threecompeting failure types: I, II and III. Partial inspectionsdetect without error type I failures. Failures of type II canbe detected by imperfect inspections which have non-zero probabilityof false positives. Partial and imperfect inspections are madeat the same time. Type III failures are detectable only by perfectinspections. If the system is found failed in an inspection,a repair is made which renders the system in a good-as-new condition.The system is preventively maintained following an age-basedpolicy. Preventive maintenance actions return the system toa good-as-new condition. We consider cost contributions of inspections,repairs, preventive maintenance and periods of unavailability.The model presented permits to determine the optimal (constant)inter-inspection period for partial, imperfect and perfect inspectionsand the optimal times of preventive maintenance actions.     

An economic order quantity with imperfect quality and quantity discounts

Previous studies in the issue of inventory models with imperfect quality assumed the defectives could be sold in a batch by the end of the inspection process and the manufacturing systems were push systems. However, the above assumptions may not be true in the pull system in which buyer is powerful. Therefore, in this paper, we develop a new inventory model for items with imperfect quality and quantity discounts where buyer has exerted power over its supplier. Based on the concept of powerful buyer, there are three considerations included in this new model: (1) the order quantity is manufactured at one setup and is shipped over multiple deliveries, (2) the defectives are screened out by a 100% inspection for each shipment but sold in a batch by the end of inspection at the last shipment of each cycle, and (3) the supplier offers quantity discounts to response the request of the powerful buyer. Further, an algorithm is developed to help the powerful buyer to determine the optimal order policy accurately and quickly. Two numerical examples are available in this paper to illustrate the proposed model and algorithm. Besides, based on the numerical examples, a sensitivity analysis is made to investigate the effects of four important parameters (the inspection rate, the defective rate, the receiving cost, and the ordering cost) on the optimal solution.     

An optimal repair–replacement policy for a cold standby system with use priority

In this paper, the maintenance problem for a cold standby system consisting of two dissimilar components and one repairman is studied. Assume that both component 1 and component 2 after repair follow geometric process repair and component 1 is given priority in use when both components are workable. Under these assumptions, using geometric process repair model, we consider a replacement policy N under which the system is replaced when the number of failures of component 1 reaches N. Our purpose is to determine an optimal replacement policy N1 such that the average cost rate (i.e. the long-run average cost per unit time) of the system is minimized. The explicit expression for the average cost rate of the system is derived and the corresponding optimal replacement policy N1 can be determined analytically or numerically. Finally, a numerical example is given to illustrate some theoretical results and the model applicability.