Maintenance Optimization

Preventive Maintenance

Optimization Inspection Schedules

Predictive Maintenance Schedules

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1. Preventive Maintenance schedules - there is a fixed cost for the performance of a PM.  If a PM is not conducted eventually there will be a failure with a fixed cost.  An example is scheduling a belt to be changed.  There is a cost for changing the belt, but an even higher cost for allowing the belt to fail.
2. Inspection schedules - in some cases it is impossible to determine if a defect exists without inspection. This may be a defect causing scrap production or a defect causing machinery damage. The problem is to determine how often inspections should take place. There is an inspection cost, but the cost of an undetected defect in the process increases with time.
3. Predictive Maintenance Schedules - predictive maintenance tools (vibration analysis, oil analysis, thermography, etc.) are increasingly being used to prevent machinery failures and thus reduce operating expenses.  This techniques assumes there is a time period in which  an impending catastrophic failure can be detected.