Asset management for multiple assets with multiple maintenance actions

The large sums of money spent on physical assets mean even minor improvements in the approach to asset management can result in substantial savings. Many models have been proposed to optimize the maintenance or replacement of single items or components with stochastic failure types and times. However, these models do not generally extend to larger systems where resource constraints are important. This paper focuses on systems of multiple assets with a range of potential maintenance actions. Using decomposition, a method to determine a prioritization index for combinations of assets and maintenance actions is developed. These indices can be used to help asset managers design near-optimal maintenance strategies subject to budget constraints. Numerical examples are presented to illustrate the approach.