Objective
Objectives and content
The main objective of this project is the development, setting-up and validation of an innovative methodology based on reliability and cost criteria, which, by its application to the improvement of the maintenance planning of equipments, allows to reduce the economic losses and to improve its availability. In consideration of its characteristics, the same results may be also obtained using the methodology for the improvement of the conception, project planning and construction of the components and equipments when this type of intervention is suggested by the experience feedback obtained on the basis of the calculated reliability and of a suitable use of the system analysis code.
To meet these objectives, the project provides the setting-up of the computer methods constituting the methodology (a data bank for the storing of historical data, computer methods for the processing of reliability data on their basis, a computer method for the preliminary definition of the maintenance strategies and a Montecarlo reliability computer program for the system analysis) and its validation by a systematic application carried-out for two years on existing complex systems (transport systems, production industries, power production plants and telecommunication networks) directly managed by the partners who perform this activity. The validation will be an essential activity of the project which allows to obtain the sting of the methodology, its acquisition by the installations to which it is applied and, mainly, the demonstration that the prefixed objectives may be achieved by its application. To this aim, at the end of the project, savings in the costs and unavailability will be effectively measured by the quantification of direct and indirect factors such as growing output due to increased availability, higher quality due to fewer failures, increased capability due to reduced stoppage, etc..
Concerning the maintenance management, the methodology which will be set-up will be used as an innovative device which integrates and completes the traditional and existing CMMS (Computer Maintenance Management Systems). In fact these existing methods, tested and used in many industrial sectors, only allow an improvement of the daily organization and management of maintenance; the maintenance planning used by these CMMS is defined on the basis of the generical experience of the suppliers and the experience feedback which may be obtained from recorded historical data is not exploited by them for lack of adequate methods. As a first consequence, many components are replaced much earlier before the end of their life or many typical maintenance operations are too frequently performed with a high and totally useless increase of the costs. Besides, a correct choice between different types of maintenance (preventive, conditional or corrective only) is not possible by these methods. A further innovative application of the methodology consists in the improvement of the concept of equipments.
The final result of the project will be a new methodology operating on PC and ready to be introduced into the market. Claimed innovative aspects introduced by the methodology developed by this proposal include:
- direct use of reliability criteria at an industrial level in the improvement of the maintenance planning and management and of the concept of equipments;
- integration in a unique methodology directly operating on PC of different computer methods and procedures for the obtainment of an adequate experience feedback from historical data previously stored and t e direct uses of reliability criteria listed above. The methodology will be generalized since it may be applied to each type of complex system (industries, firms, plants, service delivery companies. etc.) with small adjustments;
- original characteristics of each one of the following computer methods constituting that methodology: a data bank for the storing of historical data and the interactively connected methods for the reliability data processing, a computer method for the automatic definition of the maintenance strategies to be applied on the single components and a reliability system analysis code using Montecarlo techniques for the improvement of the system management. It is clear that methods of this type already exist, but each method developed by the project will be original, generalized and will face the interested problem (reliability data processing, system analysis, etc.) in an automatic, new and complete way.
Fields of science
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
40129 Bologna
Italy