On the application of mathematical models in maintenance

This paper may be seen as an appeal to maintenance modellers to work with maintenance engineers and managers on real problems. Such collaboration is essential if maintenance modelling is to be accepted within the engineering community. It is also particularly important in the design and building of maintenance management information systems if such systems are to be used to manage and operate maintenance policy in the new millennium. In this context, developing areas of maintenance modelling are discussed, namely: inspection maintenance; condition based maintenance; maintenance for multi-component systems; and maintenance management information systems. Some new models relating to capital replacement are also considered. Thus, we are concerned with the mathematical modelling of maintenance rather than with management processes relating to maintenance. Discussion of maintenance management information systems is included because of their importance in providing data for mathematical modelling and in implementing model-based maintenance policy. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.