Optimal control policies for joint machine maintenance production and quality control of complex industrial systems

In this research proposal, an integrated dynamic maintenance, production lot-sizing, and inspection model will be developed. The addressed system is modeled as a Markov Decision Process (MDP) model. In addition, the structural properties of the developed model will be utilized to develop an efficient solution Algorithm. Illustrative examples will be provided to demonstrate model properties and the managerial insights from such an integrated dynamic model will be discussed. Overall, the main contribution of this work is to develop a novel integrated model that can be used to find the joint schedule of maintenance activities of complex systems, (multiple maintenance actions are considered), production lot-sizing, and inspection to meet a random demand. Optimal policies will be obtained. The model can be used for batch production systems at the tactical level where the decision maker obtains optimal production, maintenance, and lot sizing decisions. Also, a special case, the model can be, at the strategic level, applied to continuously running systems, where the production levels can be predetermined or given alternate cost structure. Hence, production policies are taken into consideration in maintenance planning (i.e. fixed production policies).