Optimization of a preventive maintenance strategy for a product with limited repair times

Abstract

This paper proposes a base warranty and replacement warranty strategy for repairable products. It should be emphasized that the product failure rate is low in the early stage of the base warranty. Therefore, in order to reduce the manufacturer’s maintenance cost, the manufacturer does not carry out preventive maintenance in the early stage of the base warranty, and carries out regular preventive maintenance in the later stage of the base warranty. At the same time, if the number of product failures in the base warranty exceeds the specified limit, the manufacturer must replace products for customers free of charge according to the warranty contract. After the product is replaced, if the number of product failures does not exceed the limit, the manufacturer will continue to provide customers with the remaining base warranty period of the original product, and the warranty period will continue to be extended for a period of time. By minimizing the expected cost rate, it is shown that the optimal maintenance policy for warranty products is unique. Finally, we give a numerical example and study the effects of periodic preventive maintenance and other relevant parameters on the optimal solution.