Corrective Maintenance versus Preventive Maintenance

The Heavy Duty Company has just purchased a large machine for a new production process. The
machine is powered by a motor that occasionally breaks down and requires a major overhaul.
Therefore, the manufacturer of the machines also provides a second standby motor. The two
motors are rotated in use, with each one remaining in the machines until it is removed for an
overhaul and replaced by the other one.
Given the planned usage of the machine, its manufacturer has provided the company with
information about the durability of the motors (the number of days of usage until a breakdown
occurs). This information is shown in the first two columns of Table 1. The first column lists the
number of days the current machines has been in use. For each of these days, the second column
then given the probability that breakdown will occur on that day. Since these probabilities are 0
expect for days 4, 5, and 6, the breakdown always occurs on the fourth, fifth, or sixth day.
Table 1: The Probability Distribution of Breakdowns for Heavy Dutys Motors, and the
Corresponding Random Numbers.
Day

Probability of
a breakdown

Corresponding
Random
Numbers

1,2,3
4
5
6
7 or more

0
0.25
0.5
0.25
0

0.0000 to 0.2499
0.2500 to 0.7499
0.7500 to 0.9999

Fortunately, the time required to overhaul a motor never exceeds three days, so a replacement
motor is always ready when a breakdown occurs. When this happens, the remainder of the day
(plus overtime if needed) is used to remove the failed motor and install the replacement motor,
so the machine then is ready to begin operation again at the beginning of the next day. The
average costs incurred during each replacement cycle (the time from when a replacement of a
motor begins until just before another replacement is needed) are summarized below:
Cost of a Replacement Cycle That Begins with a
Breakdown
Replace a motor
$ 2,000
Lost production during replacement
$ 5,000
Overhaul a motor
$ 4,000
Total
$ 11,000

Some Preventive Maintenance Options

So far, we have assumed that the company will use a corrective maintenance policy. This means
that the motor in the machine will be removed and overhauled only after it has broken down.
However, many companies use a preventive maintenance policy instead. Such a policy in this
case would involve scheduling the motor to be removed (and replaced) for an overhaul at a
certain time even if a breakdown has not occurred.
The goal is to provide maintenance early enough to prevent a breakdown. Scheduling the
overhaul also enables removing and replacing the motor at a convenient time when the machine
would not be in use otherwise, so that no production is lost. For example, by paying overtime
wages for the removal and replacement, this work can be done after the normal workday ends so
that the machine will be ready by the beginning of the next day. One possibility is to do this at
the end of day 3, which would definitely be in time to prevent a breakdown. Other option are to
do it at the end of day 4 or day 5 (if a breakdown has not yet occurred) in order to prevent
disrupting production with a breakdown in the very near future.
Consider the option of removing (and replacing) the motor for an overhaul at the end of day 3.
The average cost each time this is done happens to be the following.

Cost of a Replacement Cycle That Begins without a

Breakdown
Replace a motor on overtime
$ 3,000
Lost production during replacement
0
Overhaul a motor before a breakdown
$ 3,000
Total
$ 6,000
Make your recommendation to the management of Heavy Duty Company. Computer simulation
can be used to evaluate and compare each of these options (along with a corrective maintenance
policy) when analytical solutions are not available.