Currently, there are two commonly used approaches for making inspection-maintenance plans:
- Traditional Approach (including RBI & RCM) – While these manual techniques can benefit from human knowledge and decision-making abilities, they have also been criticised for being (a) time consuming; (b) prone to human errors; and (c) too rigid or static in nature
- Condition Based Approach – While this approach allows continuous update of inspection-maintenance plans based upon the existing condition of the equipment, it faces challenges associated with (a) quality and quantity of data; (b) interpretation of data to information (failure profile); (c) reasoning information to knowledge (equipment status); and (d) converting knowledge to decision (maintenance plan)
Hence, there is a need for a methodology that seamlessly integrates the two – Traditional and Condition-Based – approaches, for preparing improved inspection-maintenance plans. Additionally, the methodology should automatically take into account variations in the structural, operational, environmental and condition attributes of individual equipment.
In this presentation, limitations of the traditional and condition based techniques shall be discussed. Furthermore, a methodology for overcoming these limitations shall be demonstrated.
