EQUIPMENT PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE SCHEDULING

• US 20150324759A1
• Filed: 05/09/2014
• Published: 11/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2014
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: BANSAL, SHEFALI, DEY, TAPAN
• Application Number:
  US14/274,343
• Publication Number:
  US 20150324759A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0283 Predictive maintenance, e.g. involving the monitoring of a system and, based on the monitoring results, taking decisions on the maintenance schedule of the monitored system; Estimating remaining useful life [RUL] preventive maintenance, i.e. planning maintenance according to the available resources without monitoring the system G06Q10/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/109 Time management, e.g. calendars, reminders, meetings or time accounting
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/20 Administration of product repair or maintenance

Abstract

A method, system, and/or computer program product schedules preventive maintenance on a unit of equipment. An outage on a unit of equipment, which is the result of a maintenance operation being performed on a subcomponent of the unit of equipment, is detected. A determination is made that the maintenance operation is a superseding maintenance operation, which renders a subsequently scheduled minor maintenance operation on the subcomponent of the unit of equipment unnecessary. A critical maintenance operation on the subcomponent of the unit of equipment is also identified. Thus, the critical maintenance operation, but not the minor maintenance operation, is performed while executing the superseding maintenance operation on the subcomponent of the unit of equipment during the outage.

Claims

1-7. -7. (canceled)

8. A computer program product for scheduling preventive maintenance on a unit of equipment, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code readable and executable by a processor to perform a method comprising:

detecting an outage on a unit of equipment, wherein the outage is a result of a maintenance operation being performed on a first subcomponent of the unit of equipment;

determining that the maintenance operation is a superseding maintenance operation, wherein the superseding maintenance operation renders a first minor maintenance operation on the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment unnecessary for preventing a failure of the unit of equipment, and wherein the first minor maintenance operation is scheduled after the superseding maintenance operation;

identifying a first critical maintenance operation on the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment, wherein the first critical maintenance operation is scheduled after the superseding maintenance operation, and wherein failure to perform the first critical maintenance operation within a predefined period of time of the superseding maintenance operation has been predetermined to cause the unit of equipment to fail; and

performing the first critical maintenance operation, but not the first minor maintenance operation, while executing the superseding maintenance operation on the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment during the outage.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from at least one sensor on the unit of equipment, a signal describing a state of the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment; and

determining, based on the signal describing the state of the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment, that a maintenance operation on the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment is the first critical maintenance operation.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from at least one sensor on the unit of equipment, a signal describing a state of the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment; and

determining, based on the signal describing the state of the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment, that a maintenance operation on the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment is the first minor maintenance operation.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

identifying a second critical maintenance operation on a second subcomponent of the unit of equipment, wherein the second critical maintenance operation is scheduled after the superseding maintenance operation, and wherein failure to perform the second critical maintenance operation within a second predefined period of time of the superseding maintenance operation has been predetermined to cause the unit of equipment to fail; and

performing the second critical maintenance operation while executing the first critical maintenance operation and the superseding maintenance operation.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

identifying a cost of the first critical maintenance operation, a length of time required to perform the first critical maintenance operation at a different outage time from that incurred by the superseding maintenance operation, and a cost of the different outage time to determine a cost of performing the first critical maintenance operation at the different outage time; and

in response to determining that the cost of performing the first critical maintenance operation at the different outage time is greater than a predetermined value, issuing a signal approving continued performance of the first critical maintenance operation during the outage.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

identifying a cost of the first critical maintenance operation, a length of time required to perform the first critical maintenance operation at a different outage time from that incurred by the superseding maintenance operation, and a cost of the different outage time to determine a cost of performing the first critical maintenance operation at the different outage time; and

in response to determining that the cost of performing the first critical maintenance operation at the different outage time is less than a predetermined value, issuing a signal to halt performance of the first critical maintenance operation during the outage.

14. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the method further comprises:

identifying a length of time between the outage and when the first critical maintenance operation was originally scheduled; and

in response to determining that the length of time between the outage and when the first critical maintenance operation was originally scheduled is greater than a predetermined length of time, issuing a signal to halt performance of the first critical maintenance operation during the outage.

15. A system for scheduling preventive maintenance on a unit of equipment, the system comprising:

a processor, a computer readable memory, and a computer readable storage medium;

first program instructions to detect an outage on a unit of equipment, wherein the outage is a result of a maintenance operation being performed on a first subcomponent of the unit of equipment;

second program instructions to determine that the maintenance operation is a superseding maintenance operation, wherein the superseding maintenance operation renders a first minor maintenance operation on the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment unnecessary for preventing a failure of the unit of equipment, and wherein the first minor maintenance operation is scheduled after the superseding maintenance operation;

third program instructions to identify a first critical maintenance operation on the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment, wherein the first critical maintenance operation is scheduled after the superseding maintenance operation, and wherein failure to perform the first critical maintenance operation within a predefined period of time of the superseding maintenance operation has been predetermined to cause the unit of equipment to fail; and

fourth program instructions to perform the first critical maintenance operation, but not the first minor maintenance operation, while executing the superseding maintenance operation on the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment during the outage; and

wherein the first, second, third, and fourth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium and executed by the processor via the computer readable memory.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

fifth program instructions to receive, from at least one sensor on the unit of equipment, a signal describing a state of the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment; and

sixth program instructions to determine, based on the signal describing the state of the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment, that a maintenance operation on the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment is the first critical maintenance operation; and

wherein the fifth and sixth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium and executed by the processor via the computer readable memory.

17. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

fifth program instructions to receive, from at least one sensor on the unit of equipment, a signal describing a state of the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment; and

sixth program instructions to determine, based on the signal describing the state of the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment, that a maintenance operation on the first subcomponent of the unit of equipment is the first minor maintenance operation; and

wherein the fifth and sixth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium and executed by the processor via the computer readable memory.

18. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

fifth program instructions to identify a second critical maintenance operation on a second subcomponent of the unit of equipment, wherein the second critical maintenance operation is scheduled after the superseding maintenance operation, and wherein failure to perform the second critical maintenance operation within a second predefined period of time of the superseding maintenance operation has been predetermined to cause the unit of equipment to fail; and

sixth program instructions to perform the second critical maintenance operation while executing the first critical maintenance operation and the superseding maintenance operation; and

wherein

the fifth and sixth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium and executed by the processor via the computer readable memory.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

fifth program instructions to identify a cost of the first critical maintenance operation, a length of time required to perform the first critical maintenance operation at a different outage time from that incurred by the superseding maintenance operation, and a cost of the different outage time to determine a cost of performing the first critical maintenance operation at the different outage time; and

sixth program instructions to, in response to determining that the cost of performing the first critical maintenance operation at the different outage time is greater than a predetermined value, issue a signal approving continued performance of the first critical maintenance operation during the outage; and

wherein

the fifth and sixth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium and executed by the processor via the computer readable memory.

20. The system of claim 15, further comprising:

fifth program instructions to identify a length of time between the outage and when the first critical maintenance operation was originally scheduled; and

sixth program instructions to, in response to determining that the length of time between the outage and when the first critical maintenance operation was originally scheduled is greater than a predetermined length of time, issue a signal to halt performance of the first critical maintenance operation during the outage; and

wherein

the fifth and sixth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage medium and executed by the processor via the computer readable memory.