A discounted integrated inspection-maintenance model for a single deteriorating production facility

In this paper, we address the problem of determining optimum inspection schedules for a single deteriorating production system with a predetermined replacement cycle. It is assumed that, at different discrete points in time over the fixed planning horizon, the facility is inspected to detect its operating state and then it goes over an imperfect preventive maintenance routine to enhance its operating performance. Moreover, the facility undergoes minimal repair once detected in an “out-of-control” state. We also adopt the concept of discounted cash flow analysis to account properly for the effect of time value of money on the inspection policies. Under these settings, we formulate the discounted integrated inspection-maintenance problem as a dynamic programming model with general time to failure distribution. After illustrating the model with a numerical example, we perform sensitivity analysis to investigate the effects of some input parameters on the expected present worth and the number of inspections.