An optimal stochastic control approach to maintenance campaign scheduling

Presents an optimal stochastic control approach to scheduling of preventive maintenance activities for offshore installations. The author introduces a Markov decision problem with a cost structure that is based on manpower requirements for corrective and preventive maintenance activities. The objective is to determine a preventive maintenance strategy that minimizes the total cost, taking into account the inaccessibility of the installation during winter months. The authors show how the dynamic programming algorithm, used to solve the problem, can be implemented efficiently on a small computer