Joint optimisation of operation and maintenance policies in an urban ropeway transport systems context

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a stochastic optimisation model for integrating service and maintenance policies in order to solve the queuing problem and the cost of maintenance activities for public transport services, with a particular focus on urban ropeway system. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopt the following approaches: a discrete-event model that uses a set of interrelated queues for the formulation of the service problem using a cost-based expression; and a maintenance model consisting of preventive and corrective maintenance actions, which considers two different maintenance policies (periodic block-type and age-based). Findings The work shows that neither periodic block-type maintenance nor an age-based maintenance is necessarily the best maintenance strategy over a long system lifecycle; the optimal strategy must consider both policies. Practical implications The maintenance policies are then evaluated for their impact on the service and operation of the transport system. The authors conclude by applying the proposed optimisation model using an example concerning ropeway systems. Originality/value This is the first study to simultaneously consider maintenance policy and operational policy in an urban aerial ropeway system, taking up the problem of queuing with particular attention to the unique requirements public transport services.

Maintenance policy optimisation for multi-component systems considering degradation of components and imperfect maintenance actions

“…Periodic block-type policy The periodic block-type maintenance is performed periodically using maintenance actions during a long-term period over the lifetime, e.g. maintenance/year (Khatab, et al, 2013;Martinod et al, 2018). This policy accounts for a horizon of time expressed as η, with a piecewise linear distribution of time T, and an equally frequency of maintenance actions τ (see Fig.…”

“…), which combines the reliability analysis of the complex systems and the working-life condition of each component. Other models (Do et al, 2015;Iung et al, 2016;Martinod, Bistorin & Rezg, 2018) have assumed that all members of a group have identical behaviour (i.e. identical working rate, wear ratio, degradation, etc.…”

Sustainable maintenance planning in the petroleum industry: an application of system dynamics approach

“…However, sustainability's environmental and social dimensions are rarely investigated (Franciosi et al, 2020). Dealing with maintenance systems having an economic short-term view, without considering the resulting long-term sustainable effect, is very common in the petroleum industry (Linn eusson et al, 2018b), and the maintenance impact on the output of the industry is increasingly complex (Martinod et al, 2019); accordingly, it calls for more advanced systemic methodologies to embark on the issue of sustainable decision-making.…”