Multi criteria preventive maintenance scheduling through Arena based simulation modeling

Line performance and equipment utilization have been major points of interest for many companies due to their direct impact on productivity. Achieving the highest possible utilization while maximizing throughput will improve the line performance; will also show significant increase on the line productivity. There are many variables that affect the line utilization and performance and preventive maintenance schedule is one of them. In this paper a multi criteria decision making approach will be implemented to select the preventive maintenance schedule that gives the best utility and performance values. To demonstrate the selection process a bread packaging line is used as a case study. Environmental conditions and line behavior are developed and simulated by using an Arena-based simulation model. The Arena model is to be used as a support tool for the multi criteria decision making process.