Simultaneous predictive maintenance and inventory policy in a continuously monitoring system using simulation optimization

Abstract

Predictive maintenance (PdM) is a strategy which can help determine the appropriate timing for maintenance depending on the actual operational conditions of a manufacturing system. Many relevant studies have ignored the effects of resource dependency and only considered perfect maintenance to reduce the complexity and uncertainty of maintenance problems. In this study, we develop a novel and highly practical maintenance model to fill the gap. The proposed model simultaneously considers the predictive maintenance and inventory policies of spare parts. In light of the high degree of complexity in modern manufacturing systems and the profound stochasticity in component degradation, a metamodeling-based simulation optimization method is proposed to find the optimal component inventory policy and degradation level thresholds of each component. A numerical study is conducted to verify that the proposed model and solution method can find the optimal or nearly optimal maintenance cost effectively and efficiently. Furthermore, the impact of critical factors in the maintenance model on the optimal policy is analyzed and useful managerial insights are derived.