The Application of Fuzzy Group Analytic Network Process to Selection of Best Maintenance Strategy- A Case Study in Mobarakeh Steel Company, Iran

Abstract

In order to increase reliability and safety level with reasonable cost, it is vital for companies to select the appropriate maintenance strategy. The main objective of this paper is to assess different maintenance strategies (namely Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), World-class Maintenance Systems (WMS) and Traditional Maintenance) for transformer equipments of Mobarakeh Steel Company of Esfhan and select the best strategy. A number of conflicting objectives and constraints must be considered simultaneously for evaluating alternative maintenance strategies. To cope with this problem and also to consider the dependency among criteria and sub-criteria, an integration of Analytic Network Process (ANP) and fuzzy set theory has been suggested in this study. In the first step, factors which play role in selecting the best maintenance strategy have been determined by reviewing the research literature and interviewing with the experts. Considering the relations between these factors a network with 5 criteria and 12 sub-criteria have been proposed. In the next step group Analytic Network Process (ANP) method was adopted to prioritize these criteria and determine the optimum strategy. In order to deal with fuzzy data and analyzing the fuzzy decision matrixes, Chang's extended analysis has been employed in this study. Results revealed that the best maintenance strategy for transformer equipments of Mobarakeh Steel Company of Esfhan is World-class Maintenance Systems (WMS).