Maintenance decisions making method for repairable system by using output-based maintenance technique: A case study at pulp manufacturing industry

This paper presents a maintenance decision making method for the case of repairable system by using output-based maintenance (OBM) technique, which is an alternative technique under condition-based maintenance (CBM) approach. Under OBM technique, machine output measure such as product quality characteristic become the main monitoring parameter to indicate the deteriorating process and failure limit of the system. A simple decision algorithm model for the case of single-repairable system is proposed in order to suggest not only what the best maintenance actions to be taken but also when the right time to be performed. A case study at a pulp manufacturing industry has been presented to validate the maintenance decision making method. Results from the case study show that the proposed method is beneficial in making the maintenance decision for real industry case. The application of decision algorithm model through monitoring and future trend forecasting processes is able to suggest the right maintenance at the right time. This paper concludes with some uniqueness features of the proposed maintenance decision making method, contributions and the future works.