An Economic Model for the Maintenance of a Device Submitted to Minor and Major Repairs

Preventive maintenance has been a mainstream strategy to keep equipment and machinery going. In this paper a Markov model is used to characterize the performance of a continuously operating device that is subject to random failure as well as failure generated by deterioration. The optimum preventive maintenance of this device is based not only on its maximum availability but also on the consideration of the total cost of operation and maintenance against a backdrop of replacement cost. The economic model proposed in this paper provides a more complete decision process to determine when to replace it even while the device is maintained optimally.