A control chart guided maintenance policy selection

Abstract

In addition to adopting new and advanced technology, effective maintenance management is one of the key parameters for meeting ever increasing production targets both in terms of quality and quantity. A lot of capital may be drained off in the absence of sound maintenance policy and there is ample scope to minimise this loss through proper maintenance decisions. This study aims to develop a scheme for maintenance policy decisions through a time-based control chart (t-chart) that monitors the failure process of the component or system under investigation. On the basis of the nature of the control chart, eight maintenance policy zones were identified. A case study on an Armoured Flexible Conveyor (AFC) used in an underground coal mine in India was undertaken to illustrate the use of the developed scheme for making maintenance policy decisions.

Keywords:

• control chart
• failure process monitoring
• maintenance policy
• Weibull distribution

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions on an earlier version of the article.