Expected utility of maintenance policies under different manufacturing competitive priorities: A case study in the process industry

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to support choices in maintenance strategy for critical equipment of a manufacturer of the chemical industry considering implications in manufacturing priorities. The research method is quantitative modeling. The object is a set of five critical machines of a company in the process industry. The study develops a framework associating three maintenance strategies, reactive, predictive, and preventive, and respective deployed policies, with the phases of the lifecycle, infant mortality, useful life, and wear-out. This study also develops a framework associating maintenance strategy with four primitive manufacturing priorities, cost, quality, flexibility, and dependability. By modeling time to failure and time to repair, the study positioned the machines in the lifecycle (two are in infant mortality, three in the wear-out phase). According to the priorities (two are expected to reduce cost, three are expected to increase the dependability of deliveries), maintenance strategic pathways were depicted for each machine. Further considerations on availability helped to understand the strategic challenges that the maintenance team must face to support the company´s manufacturing strategy. The main implication is a set of assumptions relating to maintenance choices and competitive priorities in manufacturing that should be tested in further studies. • Manufacturing and maintenance strategies require integration to achieve competitive performance. • The expected utility of maintenance policies varies under different manufacturing priorities. • If the priority is cost reduction, emergency strategy provides the best expected result. • If the priority is quality improvement, predictive strategy provides the best expected result. • If the priority is dependability, preventive strategy provides the best expected result.