Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Volume 2012 (2012), Article ID 673864, 14 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/673864
Research Article

Optimal Maintenance of a Production System with Intermediate Buffers

Constantinos C. Karamatsoukis1 and Epaminondas G. Kyriakidis2

1Department of Financial and Management Engineering, University of the Aegean, Kountouriotou 41, 82100 Chios, Greece
2Department of Statistics, Athens University of Business and Economics, 76 Patission Street, 10434 Athens, Greece

Received 29 May 2012; Accepted 23 July 2012

Academic Editor: Carlo Cattani

Copyright © 2012 Constantinos C. Karamatsoukis and Epaminondas G. Kyriakidis. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

We consider a production-inventory system that consists of an input-generating installation, a production unit and L intermediate buffers. It is assumed that the installation transfers the raw material to buffer and the production unit pulls the raw material from buffer We consider the problem of the optimal preventive maintenance of the installation if the installation deteriorates stochastically with usage and the production unit is always in operative condition. We also consider the problem of the optimal preventive maintenance of the production unit if the production unit deteriorates stochastically with usage and the installation is always in operative condition. Under a suitable cost structure and for given contents of the buffers, it is proved that the average-cost optimal policy for the first (second) problem initiates a preventive maintenance of the installation (production unit) if and only if the degree of deterioration of the installation (production unit) exceeds some critical level. Numerical results are presented for both problems.