Modified quality loss for the analysis of product quality characteristics considering maintenance cost

ABSTRACT

In view of the fact that the product cannot be restored to new for the actual maintenance, and the degradation rate gradually increases after the maintenance. A concept, quality characteristics of products should obey a multi-stage linear variation during service life, is proposed, which can be used to modify the quality loss model. The correlation among maintenance cost, quality loss, and the range of key quality characteristics (KQC) of product is considered, products’ preventive maintenance (PM) schedules are further adjusted to obtain the optimal range of KQC. Failure data of the air bearing of the air conditioner and the piston are used as examples. This paper compares and analyzes the best preventive maintenance of in-service equipment from two dimensions of quality loss and maintenance cost. The results show that the optimal preventive maintenance range can reduce the total operating cost of enterprises. Scientific evaluation of the service life of in-service products, reasonable arrangement of product maintenance and decommissioning work, improved product utilization, and provided a new perspective for product quality research in the whole life cycle.

KEYWORDS:

• service life
• quality loss
• key quality characteristic
• multi-stage linear degradation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kai Jin

Kai Jin is pursuing his Master’s degree at Shanghai University of Engineering Science. His research area is focused on product quality loss and reliability design theory.

Xintian Liu

Xintian Liu is currently working as an associate professor of vehicle engineering at Shanghai University of Engineering Science (China) since 2007. His research area is focused on product quality control, fatigue life prediction and evaluation, uncertainty of mechanical system, reliability design theory and vehicle system dynamics.

Miao Liu

Miao Liu is currently working as a lecturer of vehicle engineering at Shanghai University of Engineering Science since 2013. His research area is focused on product quality loss and vehicle system dynamics.

Kangfeng Qian

Kangfeng Qian is pursuing his Master’s degree at Shanghai University of Engineering Science. His research area is focused on product quality loss and reliability design theory.