The Use of Artificial Intelligence Methods to Assess the Effectiveness of Lean Maintenance Concept Implementation in Manufacturing Enterprises

Abstract

The increase in the performance and effectiveness of maintenance processes is a continuous aim of production enterprises. The elimination of unexpected failures, which generate excessive costs and production losses, is emphasized. The elements that influence the efficiency of maintenance are not only the choice of an appropriate conservation strategy but also the use of appropriate methods and tools to support the decision-making process in this area. The research problem, which was considered in the paper, is an insufficient means of assessing the degree of the implementation of lean maintenance. This problem results in not only the possibility of achieving high efficiency of the exploited machines, but, foremost, it influences a decision process and the formulation of maintenance policy of an enterprise. The purpose of this paper is to present the possibility of using intelligent systems to support decision-making processes in the implementation of the lean maintenance concept, which allows the increase in the operational efficiency of the company’s technical infrastructure. In particular, artificial intelligence methods were used to search for relationships between specific activities carried out under the implementation of lean maintenance and the results obtained. Decision trees and rough set theory were used for the analysis. The decision trees were made for the average value of the overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) indicator. The rough set theory was used to assess the degree of utilization of the lean maintenance strategy. Decision rules were generated based on the proposed algorithms, using RSES software, and their correctness was assessed.