Minimax review schedules for degradable systems under a specified operational reliability

Abstract

Degradable systems deteriorate with age. In order to operate such systems with maximum gain, they must be monitored and/or inspected for possible repairs or replacements. For example in service industries (such as in warehousing and distribution) management sets allowable service level or operational reliability which the system should operate in order to maintain customer satisfaction at a minimum cost. A perfect complementarily problem which management must resolve is to determine an economic surveillance schedule for the system at the desired operational reliability. In this paper, we address the minimax review schedule problem using discrete maximum entropy policy. The derived model is applied to container (case) inventory review schedules for a warehouse storage system.