Joint block-based preventive maintenance and periodic review inventory policies with spare parts deterioration

Joint maintenance and spare parts inventory policies for a multiple-identical-unit system with spare parts deterioration are considered. Block-based preventive maintenance is adopted as the maintenance policy while periodic review inventory is adopted as the spare parts inventory policy. A joint optimization model is firstly set up according to the renewal theorem. Then, maintenance interval T and maximum inventory level S are chosen as decision variables to minimize the long-run average cost rate of maintenance and spare parts inventory. Finally, the optimal maintenance interval, the optimal maximum inventory level and the influence of spare parts deterioration are all discussed based on numerical simulations from the example of arcing chambers in electric locomotives from Slovenian Railways.