Integrated maintenance policies for performance improvement of a multi-unit repairable, one product manufacturing system

Planned and unplanned downtime emanating from maintenance, production, and operational function adversely affects the performance of manufacturing plants. This paper develops joint maintenance, production and process/operations control policies integrating Opportunistic Maintenance (OM), which takes advantage of external (operational-related downtimes) and internal maintenance opportunities. The study quantifies the effects of maintenance strategies on the plant's performance, here, the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), which importantly presents insights on maintenance decision support for production facilities facing significant operational-related stoppages. The study integrates both economic and structural dependence and models the influence of alternative maintenance actions of different maintenance policies, on product quality. The developed model is validated by applying to a multi-unit repairable, imperfectly maintained raw meal grinding system of a cement plant. From the simulation modelling results, integration of the opportunistic maintenance approach, complementary to corrective, preventive and condition-based maintenance strategies, show more enhanced equipment performance, as measured through the OEE.

Automated summary

The study integrates maintenance, production, and process/operations control policies, introducing Opportunistic Maintenance to positively impact the performance of manufacturing plants. The model validates the advantages of Opportunistic Maintenance in enhancing equipment performance compared to other maintenance strategies.