Integrated maintenance and spare part optimization for moving assets

We consider an integrated maintenance and spare part optimization problem for a single critical component of a moving asset for which the degradation level is observable. Degradation is modeled as a function of the current operating mode, mostly dictated by the actual location of the moving asset. The spare part is stocked at the home base that the moving asset eventually visits. Alternatively, the spare part can be stocked on-board the moving asset to prevent costly expedited deliveries. The costs associated with spare part deliveries and part replacements depend on the operating mode. Our objective is to minimize the expected total discounted cost of spare part deliveries, part replacements, and inventory holding over an infinite planning horizon. We formulate the problem as a Markov decision process and characterize the structure of the optimal policy, which is shown to be a bi-threshold policy in each operating mode. Our numerical experiments show that the cost savings obtained by the integrated optimization of spare part inventory and part replacement decisions are significant. We also demonstrate the value of the integrated approach in a case study from the maritime sector.

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