Optimal integrated maintenance policy based on quality deterioration

It\´s obvious that any manufacturing system is undergoing increasing deterioration owing to usage, age and stochastic failures. Frequently, this deterioration results in the product quality degradation and hence entails a significant nonconforming cost "NCC" as well as a maintenance cost. This paper investigates the relationship between maintenance and quality by developing an economic strategy joining simultaneously maintenance and quality aspects. We consider a single machine subject to random failure and producing a progressive deteriorated product according to the failure rate evolution. A preventive maintenance strategy with minimal repair is applied in order to reduce the expected total cost per unit time including simultaneously maintenance cost and "NCC". We note that the key of our study consists of optimizing the maintenance strategy with considering the deteriorated product degree by determining the optimal number of batches produced before undertaking a preventive maintenance action.