دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی انتخاب سیاست های تعمیر و نگهداری: یک رویکرد فازی-ANP - امرالد 2017

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a fuzzy analytic network process (FANP) model to select the maintenance policy of an acid manufacturing company. Design/methodology/approach – Four maintenance strategies of Corrective Maintenance (CM), TimeBased Maintenance (TBM), Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) and Shutdown Maintenance (SM) are investigated to be considered for seven equipment of the case study. These equipment are almost new and include boiler, molten sulfur ponds, cooling towers, absorption tower, converter, sulfur fuel furnace and heat exchanger. Chang’s extended analysis has been employed to deal with fuzzy data and analyze the fuzzy decision matrices. The proposed approach is applied to a sulfuric acid production plant and the suitable maintenance policy is found for all seven equipment of the company. Findings – Based on the obtained results, the CBM policy is appropriate for high-risk (cooling tower) and high added value equipment (absorption tower). In addition, TBM is selected for boiler and converters while SM is selected for molten sulfur ponds. Finally, high-cost, low-risk and low added value equipment (sulfur fuel furnace and heat exchanger) are more appropriate with CM policy. Originality/value – This research presents a novel idea to consider cost, risk and added value in the context of maintenance policy selection. From the methodological and theoretical features, this research offers new insights in this area since, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no comparable study has been conducted before.

6. Conclusion and future research directions

The major objective of this research was to propose an FANP technique to choose the best maintenance policy of an acid manufacturing company. In this research, four maintenance strategies of CM, TBM, CBM and SM were investigated to be considered for seven equipment of a real-case study. The next considered factor was the real nature of decision makers who prefer fuzzy numbers instead of exact values. Therefore, Chang’s extended analysis was used to deal with fuzzy data and analyze the fuzzy decision matrices. The developed technique was used to a sulfuric acid production plant and the proper maintenance policy was found for all seven equipment of this company. According to the results, the CBM policy is suitable for high-risk (cooling tower) and high added value equipment (absorption tower). Furthermore, TBM is selected for boiler and converters while SM is selected for molten sulfur ponds. Finally, high-cost, low-risk and low added value equipment (sulfur fuel furnace and heat exchanger) are more appropriate to use CM policy. However, although the proposed approach was applied in a sulfuric acid production plant, it should be noted that the statement of “one particular maintenance policy is best suited to a specific industry” might not be a correct and general rule. In other words, the best fit policy is a function of many factors including the condition of equipment, regulations, operators and decision-makers’ comments. As a direction for future research, one may investigate more maintenance policies with more criteria to be fit with different equipment of companies. In addition, the maintenance policy can be investigated with regard to desired functionality and consequence of failures.