A Study on Maintenance Management and Maintenance Decision-Making Methods

By comparing the advantages and disadvantages of the main popular maintenance modes, this paper analyses the relationship between maintenance modes, and gives a model of maintenance decision-making. The model can be used in enterprises to minimize life cycle cost (LCC).

Condition-Based Maintenance Decision-Making for Equipment

At present, condition monitoring and fault diagnosis technology and their application in engineering have been widely studied. Relatively little attention has been paid to condition-based maintenance decision-making for equipment. In this paper,based on the decision-making policy in traditional condition-based maintenance,the connotation of condition-based maintenance for equipment was defined, and its characteristics were analyzed.Working contents of condition-based maintenance for equipment were provided,which were divided into three stages. The influence factors in condition-based maintenance for equipment were analyzed. The key links of equipment maintenance contents and decision-making process were proposed. The condition-based maintenance decision-making policy presented in this paper can provide a practical reference for equipment maintenance.

APPLICATION OF ROUGH SET THEORY TO MAINTENANCE LEVEL DECISION-MAKING FOR AERO-ENGINE MODULES BASED ON INCREMENTAL KNOWLEDGE LEARNING

The maintenance of an aero-engine usually includes three levels,and the maintenance cost and period greatly differ depending on the different maintenance levels.To plan a reasonable maintenance budget program, airlines would like to predict the maintenance level of aero-engine before repairing in terms of performance parameters,which can provide more economic benefits.The maintenance level decision rules are mined using the historical maintenance data of a civil aero-engine based on the rough set theory,and a variety of possible models of updating rules produced by newly increased maintenance cases added to the historical maintenance case database are investigated by the means of incremental machine learning.The continuously updated rules can provide reasonable guidance suggestions for engineers and decision support for planning a maintenance budget program before repairing. The results of an example show that the decision rules become more typical and robust,and they are more accurate to predict the maintenance level of an aero-engine module as the maintenance data increase,which illustrates the feasibility of the represented method.

Multi-attribute decision-making based on subjective and objective integrated eigenvector method

An integrated approach is proposed to investigate the fuzzy multi-attribute decision-making （MADM） problems, where subjective preferences are expressed by a pairwise comparison matrix on the relative weights of attributes and objective information is expressed by a decision matrix. An eigenvector method integrated the subjective fuzzy preference matrix and objective information is proposed. Two linear programming models based on subjective and objective information are introduced to assess the relative importance weights of attributes in an MADM problem. The simple additive weighting method is utilized to aggregate the decision information, and then all the alternatives are ranked. Finally, a numerical example is given to show the feasibility and effectiveness of the method. The result shows that it is easier than other methods of integrating subjective and objective information.

Dynamic programming methodology for multi-criteria group decision-making under ordinal preferences

A method of minimizing rankings inconsistency is proposed for a decision-making problem with rankings of alternatives given by multiple decision makers according to multiple criteria. For each criteria, at first, the total inconsistency between the rankings of all alternatives for the group and the ones for every decision maker is defined after the decision maker weights in respect to the criteria are considered. Similarly, the total inconsistency between their final rankings for the group and the ones under every criteria is determined after the criteria weights are taken into account. Then two nonlinear integer programming models minimizing respectively the two total inconsistencies above are developed and then transformed to two dynamic programming models to obtain separately the rankings of all alternatives for the group with respect to each criteria and their final rankings. A supplier selection case illustrated the proposed method, and some discussions on the results verified its effectiveness. This work develops a new measurement of ordinal preferences’ inconsistency in multi-criteria group decision-making （MCGDM） and extends the cook-seiford social selection function to MCGDM considering weights of criteria and decision makers and can obtain unique ranking result.

A Fuzzy Logic-Based Modeling Method of Deciding Maintenance Policies

To make equipment maintenance policies more suitable to real operations, a fuzzy logic-based modeling method of deciding maintenance policies was proposed in this paper. Five maintenance policies which are built with downtime and breakdown frequency as decision criteria are discussed. To decide efficiently maintenance policies, the decision criteria are divided into low, medium, and high levels. On the basis of the levels, fuzzy sets and membership functions of the decision criteria are established with a fuzzy logic theory. A fuzzy logic algorithm of solving overall degree of satisfaction is presented to select the most efficient maintenance policy for equipment. Finally, the modeling method is tested. Experiment results show that the proposed method can solve efficiently problems of the traditional decision-making bias, and it is more valid and practical than the method of traditional decision-making grid (DMG).

Determination of the best materials for development and designing product using a multi-criteria decision-making

Purpose–Material selection,driven by wide and often conflicting objectives,is an important,sometimes difficult problem in material engineering.In this context,multi-criteria decision-making(MCDM)methodologies are effective.An approach of MCDM is needed to cater to criteria of material assortment simultaneously.More firms are now concerned about increasing their productivity using mathematical tools.To occupy a gap in the previous literature this research recommends an integrated MCDM and mathematical Bi-objective model for the selection of material.In addition,by using the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution(TOPSIS),the inherent ambiguities of decision-makers in paired evaluations are considered in this research.It goes on to construct a mathematical bi-objective model for determining the best item to purchase.Design/methodology/approach–The entropy perspective is implemented in this paper to evaluate the weight parameters,while the TOPSIS technique is used to determine the best and worst intermediate pipe materials for automotive exhaust system.The intermediate pipes are used to join the components of the exhaust systems.The materials usually used to manufacture intermediate pipe are SUS 436LM,SUS 430,SUS 304,SUS 436L,SUH 409 L,SUS 441 L and SUS 439L.These seven materials are evaluated based on tensile strength(TS),hardness(H),elongation(E),yield strength(YS)and cost(C).A hybrid methodology combining entropy-based criteria weighting,with the TOPSIS for alternative ranking,is pursued to identify the optimal design material for an engineered application in this paper.This study aims to help while filling the information gap in selecting the most suitable material for use in the exhaust intermediate pipes.After that,the authors searched for and considered eight materials and evaluated them on the following five criteria:(1)TS,(2)YS,(3)H,(4)E and(5)C.The first two criteria have been chosen because they can have a lot of influence on the behavior of the exhaust intermediate pipes,on their performance and on the cost.In this structure,the weights of the criteria are calculated objectively through the entropy method in order to have an unbiased assessment.This essentially measures the quantity of information each criterion contribution,indicating the relative importance of these criteria better.Subsequently,the materials were ranked using the TOPSIS method in terms of their relative performance by measuring each material from an ideal solution to determine the best alternative.The results show that SUS 309,SUS 432L and SUS 436 LM are the first three materials that the exhaust intermediate pipe optimal design should consider.Findings–The material matrix of the decision presented in Table 3 was normalized through Equation 5,as shown in Table 5,and the matrix was multiplied with weighting criteriaß_j.The obtained weighted normalized matrix V_ij is presented in Table 6.However,the ideal,worst and best value was ascertained by employing Equation 7.This study is based on the selection of material for the development of intermediate pipe using MCDM,and it involves four basic stages,i.e.method of translation criteria,screening process,method of ranking and search for methods.The selection was done through the TOPSIS method,and the criteria weight was obtained by the entropy method.The result showed that the top three materials are SUS 309,SUS 432L and SUS 436 LM,respectively.For the future work,it is suggested to select more alternatives and criteria.The comparison can also be done by using different MCDM techniques like and Choice Expressing Reality(ELECTRE),Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory(DEMATEL)and Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation(PROMETHEE).Originality/value–The results provide important conclusions for material selection in this targeted application,verifying the employment of mutual entropy-TOPSIS methodology for a series of difficult engineering decisions in material engineering concepts that combine superior capacity with better performance as well as cost-efficiency in various engineering design.

A multi-criteria decision-making approach for comparing sample preservation and DNA extraction methods from swine feces

Molecular microbiological methods, such as competetive PCR, real-time PCR, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and large-scale parallel-pyrosequencing, require the extraction of sufficient quantity of high quality DNA from microbiologically and chemically complex matrices. Due to difficulties in the field to standardize/select the optimum DNA preservation-extraction methods in view of laboratories differences, this article attempts to present a straight-forward mathematical framework for comparing some of the most commonly used methods. To this end, as a case study, the problem of selecting an optimum sample preservation-DNA extraction strategy for obtaining total bacterial DNA from swine feces was considered. Two sample preservation methods (liquid nitrogen and RNAlater?) and seven extraction techniques were paired and compared under six quantitative DNA analysis criteria: yield of extraction, purity of extracted DNA (A260/280 and A 260/230 ratios), duration of extraction, degradation degree of DNA, and cost. From a practical point of view, it is unlikely that a single sample preservation-DNA extraction strategy can be optimum for all selected criteria. Hence, a systematic multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach was used to compare the methods. As a result, the ZR Fecal DNA MiniPrepTM DNA extraction kit for samples preserved either with liquid nitrogen or RNAlater? were identified as potential optimum solutions for obtaining total bacterial DNA from swine feces. Considering the need for practicality for in situ applications, we would recommend liquid nitrogen as sample preservation method, along with the ZR Fecal DNA MiniPrepTM kit. Total bacterial DNA obtained by this strategy can be suitable for downstream PCR-based DNA analyses of swine feces.

Smart Society and Artificial Intelligence:Big Data Scheduling and the Global Standard Method Applied to Smart Maintenance

The implementation of artificial intelligence(AI)in a smart society,in which the analysis of human habits is mandatory,requires automated data scheduling and analysis using smart applications,a smart infrastructure,smart systems,and a smart network.In this context,which is characterized by a large gap between training and operative processes,a dedicated method is required to manage and extract the massive amount of data and the related information mining.The method presented in this work aims to reduce this gap with near-zero-failure advanced diagnostics(AD)for smart management,which is exploitable in any context of Society 5.0,thus reducing the risk factors at all management levels and ensuring quality and sustainability.We have also developed innovative applications for a humancentered management system to support scheduling in the maintenance of operative processes,for reducing training costs,for improving production yield,and for creating a human–machine cyberspace for smart infrastructure design.The results obtained in 12 international companies demonstrate a possible global standardization of operative processes,leading to the design of a near-zero-failure intelligent system that is able to learn and upgrade itself.Our new method provides guidance for selecting the new generation of intelligent manufacturing and smart systems in order to optimize human–machine interactions,with the related smart maintenance and education.

Research and Application of Maintenance Decision Method of Complex Equipment in Nuclear Power Plant

The determination of maintenance mode of complex equipment in nuclear power plant is an essential work for reliability analysis and maintenance decision. Currently, the main decision method of maintenance mode is reliability centered maintenance( RCM) logic decision-making process, but the process is a qualitative analysis process. Based on a comprehensive analysis of factors affecting equipment reliability and maintenance work, it adopts a fuzzy synthesis decision method to establish a maintenance decision model,which uses the maximum subordination principle and expert assessment method to determine the maintenance mode of complex equipment. Combined with a concrete example of generators in nuclear power plant,a description of maintenance decision method was proposed in the application of complex equipment. The research shows that the method is feasible and reliable.

Behavioral Decision-Making of Key Stakeholders in Public-Private Partnerships:A Hybrid Method and Benefit Distribution Study

Public-private partnerships(PPPs)have been used by governments around the world to procure and construct infrastructural amenities.It relies on private sector expertise and funding to achieve this lofty objective.However,given the uncertainties of project management,transparency,accountability,and expropriation,this phenomenon has gained tremendous attention in recent years due to the important role it plays in curbing infrastructural deficits globally.Interestingly,the reasonable benefit distribution scheme in a PPP project is related to the behavior decisionmaking of the government and social capital,aswell as the performance of the project.In this paper,the government and social capital which are the key stakeholders of PPP projects were selected as the research objects.Based on the fuzzy expected value model and game theory,a hybrid method was adopted in this research taking into account the different risk preferences of both public entities and private parties under the fuzzy demand environment.To alleviate the problem of insufficient utilization of social capital in a PPP project,this paper seeks to grasp the relationship that exists between the benefit distribution of stakeholders,their behavioral decision-making,and project performance,given that they impact the performance of both public entities and private parties,as well as assist in maximizing the overall utility of the project.Furthermore,four game models were constructed in this study,while the expected value and opportunity-constrained programming model for optimal decision-making were derived using alternate perspectives of both centralized decision-making and decentralized decision-making.Afterward,the optimal behavioral decision-making of public entities and private parties in four scenarios was discussed and thereafter compared,which led to an ensuing discussion on the benefit distribution system under centralized decision-making.Lastly,based on an example case,the influence of different confidence levels,price,and fuzzy uncertainties of PPP projects on the equilibrium strategy results of both parties were discussed,giving credence to the effectiveness of the hybrid method.The results indicate that adjusting different confidence levels yields different equilibriumpoints,and therefore signposts that social capital has a fair perception of opportunities,as well as identifies reciprocal preferences.Nevertheless,we find that an increase in the cost coefficient of the government and social capital does not inhibit the effort of both parties.Our results also indicate that a reasonable benefit distribution of PPP projects can assist them in realizing optimum Pareto improvements over time.The results provide us with very useful strategies and recommendations to improve the overall performance of PPP projects in China.

Procurement Method Selection for Building Maintenance Projects: The Case of Malaysian Public Universities

The purpose of this paper is to implement and validate a decision making framework for building maintenance projects. The growing importance of maintenance sector not only in Malaysia but al- so increasingly globalized, the difficulty in selecting an appropriate procurement method and lack of research in this area provide an impetus for this research. There were 19 procurement selection criteria identified. In addition, there were 4 types of procurements methods which include outsourcing by specialist term contract, outsourcing by tendered schedule term contract, out- sourcing by repair and maintenance contract and outsourcing by measured term contract identified to be the most popular procurement methods adapted by public universities currently and at the same time were considered most important. The decision making framework was developed based on AHP technique and principles. Expert Choice Software was employed as development tool where the criteria and alternatives were integrated into the framework. Finally, structured interview was conducted to validate the framework developed. The validation process was carried out through structured interview with selected public university.

Ship System Maintenance Strategy Selection Based on DELPHI-AHP-TOPSIS Methodology

Maintenance decision problems generally involve multiple criteria which apparently are best addressed using Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) tools. This paper describes the use of a hybrid MCDM technique in prioritizing maintenance strategy for ship systems. The Hybrid MCDM technique combines Delphi method, AHP and TOPSIS methods. While the Delphi method and AHP are applied in screening of decision criteria and decision criteria weights determination respectively, the TOPSIS method is used in the ranking of alternative maintenance strategies. Five alternative maintenance strategies which include corrected maintenance, scheduled overhaul, scheduled replacement, continuous on-condition task and scheduled on-condition task are considered and the optimum maintenance strategy is selected based on twelve critical maintenance decision criteria. To demonstrate the suitability of the approach a case study of sea water pump of the central cooling system of a marine diesel engine is used.

Analysis of the Improvement Methods for Equipment Maintenance Support

According to military requirement, and based on the problems of equipmentmaintenance support methods in high-tech battles, each element supporting equipment maintenance isanalyzed, and the methods for improving equipment maintenance are proposed.

Bi-level model for shared parking decision-making based on parking lot assignment simulation

In order to carry out comprehensive decision-making of multi-class shared parking measures within a region, a bilevel model assisting decision-making is proposed. The upper level selects parkers＇ average satisfaction and the violation rate during peak hours as indices in object function, and sets probability distribution models describing dynamic parking demand of each site, the feasibility of shared parking scenarios and occupancy requirements during peak hours of each parking lot as restrictions. The simulation model in the lower level sets up rules to assign each parker in the random parking demand series to the proper parking lot. An iterative method is proposed to confirm the state of each parking lot at the start of formal simulations. Besides, two patterns linking initialization and formal simulation are presented to acquire multiple solutions. The results of the numerical examples indicate the effectiveness of the model and solution methods.

Analysis on decision-making model of plan evaluation based on grey relation projection and combination weight algorithm

In military service joint operations, when there are more operational forces, more multifarious materials are consumed, the support is more complex and fuzzy, the deployment of personnel is more rapid, and the support provided by wartime military material support powers can be more effective. When the principles,requirements, influencing factors and goals of military material support forces are deployed in wartime, an evaluation indicator system is established. Thus, a new combined empowerment method based on an analytic hierarchy process（AHP） is developed to calculate the subjective weights, and the rough entropy method is used to calculate the objective weights. Combination weights can be obtained by calculating the weight preference coefficient error, which is determined by combining the cooperative game method and the minimum deviation into objectives. This approach can determine the grey relation projection coefficient and synthesize the measure scheme superiority to finally optimize the deployment plan using the grey relation projection decision-making method. The results show that the method is feasible and effective;it can provide a more scientific and practical decision-making basis for the military material support power deployment in wartime.

Ranking environmental projects model based on multicriteria decision-making and the weight sensitivity analysis

With the fast growth of Chinese economic, more and more capital will be invested in environmental projects. How to select the environmental investment projects （alternatives） for obtaining the best environmental quality and economic benefits is an important problem for the decision makers. The purpose of this paper is to develop a decision-making model to rank a finite number of alternatives with several and sometimes conflicting criteria. A model for ranking the projects of municipal sewage treatment plants is proposed by using exports＇ information and the data of the real projects. And, the ranking result is given based on the PROMETHEE method. Furthermore, by means of the concept of the weight stability intervals （WSI）, the sensitivity of the ranking results to the size of criteria values and the change of weights value of criteria are discussed. The result shows that some criteria, such as “proportion of benefit to project cost”, will influence the ranking result of alternatives very strong while others not. The influence are not only from the value of criterion but also from the changing the weight of criterion. So, some criteria such as “proportion of benefit to project cost” are key critera for ranking the projects. Decision makers must be cautious to them.

Approach of technical decision-making by element flow analysis and Monte-Carlo simulation of municipal solid waste stream

This paper deals with the procedure and methodology which can be used to select the optimal treatment and disposal technology of municipal solid waste （MSW）, and to provide practical and effective technical support to policy-making, on the basis of study on solid waste management status and development trend in China and abroad. Focusing on various treatment and disposal technologies and processes of MSW, this study established a Monte-Carlo mathematical model of cost minimization for MSW handling subjected to environmental constraints. A new method of element stream （such as C, H, O, N, S） analysis in combination with economic stream analysis of MSW was developed. By following the streams of different treatment processes consisting of various techniques from generation, separation, transfer, transport, treatment, recycling and disposal of the wastes, the element constitution as well as its economic distribution in terms of possibility functions was identified. Every technique step was evaluated economically. The Mont-Carlo method was then conducted for model calibration. Sensitivity analysis was also carried out to identify the most sensitive factors. Model calibration indicated that landfill with power generation of landfill gas was economically the optimal technology at the present stage under the condition of more than 58% of C, H, O, N, S going to landfill. Whether or not to generate electricity was the most sensitive factor. If landfilling cost increases, MSW separation treatment was recommended by screening first followed with incinerating partially and composting partially with residue landfilling. The possibility of incineration model selection as the optimal technology was affected by the city scale. For big cities and metropolitans with large MSW generation, possibility for constructing large-scale incineration facilities increases, whereas, for middle and small cities, the effectiveness of incinerating waste decreases.

Equipment Maintenance Mode Based on Network Environment

Aimed at the actuality of Peoplep's Liberation Army(PLA) army equipment maintenance, this paper develops equipment maintenance mode based on network,and focuses on the design of maintenance decision-making system. Analyzing maintenance weight is applied to making decision of repair level.The purpose of the research is introducing basic concept and setting up an equipment maintenance mode using military network.Maintenance mode based on network can reduce the costs,enhance the maintenance efficiency, and save the human resource and finance.

Suggestion of Maintenance Criteria for Electric Railroad Facilities Based on Fuzzy TOPSIS

This paper is on the suggestion of maintenance items for electric railway facility systems.With the recent increase in the use of electric locomotives,the utilization and importance of railroad electrical facility systems are also increasing,but the railroad electrical facility system in Korea is rapidly aging.To solve this problem,various methodologies are applied to ensure operational reliability and stability for railroad electrical facility systems,but there is a lack of detailed evaluation criteria for railroad electrical facility system maintenance.Also,maintenance items must be selected in a scientific and systematic method.Therefore,railroad electrical facility systems are selected for study.Design StructureMatrix(DSM)is utilized to establish considerations tailored to the maintenance characteristics,and the Fuzzy-TOPSIS methodology is utilized for determining the maintenance detail evaluation item baseline weights,a multi-criteria decision-making problem.Studies show that degradation,insulation items have the highest weight of 14.63%,and capacity items have the lowest weight of 5.34%.The results of this may be contributed to the underlying research in carrying out maintenance activities to ensure the reliability and safety of railroad electrical facility systems.