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Edwards, D J and Yisa, S (2001) Modelling the magnitude of plant downtime: a tool for improving plant operations management. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 8(03), 225–32.

  • Type: Journal Article
  • Keywords: breakdown duration; linear interpolation; plant operations management; probability; stochastic random numbers; tracked hydraulic excavators
  • ISBN/ISSN: 0969-9988
  • URL: http://www.ingentaconnect.com/search/expand?pub=infobike://bsc/ecam/2001/00000008/00000003/art00203&unc=
  • Abstract:
    Utilization of off-highway vehicles forms an essential part of UK industry’s efforts to augment the productivity of plant operations and reduce production costs. However, uninterrupted utilization of plant and equipment is requisite to reaping the maximum benefit of mechanization; one particular problem being plant breakdown duration and its impact upon process productivity. Predicting the duration of plant downtime would enable plant managers to develop suitable contingency plans to reduce the impact of downtime. This paper presents a stochastic mathematical modelling methodology (more specifically, probability density function of random numbers) which predicts the probable magnitude of ‘the next’ breakdown, in terms of duration for tracked hydraulic excavators. A random sample of 33 machines was obtained from opencast mining contractors, containing 1070 observations of machine breakdown duration. Utilization of the random numbers technique will engender improved maintenance practice by providing a practical methodology for planning, scheduling and controlling future plant resource requirements. The paper concludes with direction for future research which aims to: extend the model’s application to cover other industrial settings and plant items; to predict the time at which breakdown will occur (vis-à-vis the duration of breakdown); and apply the random numbers modelling to individual machine compartments.

Edwards, D J, Nicholas, J and Sharp, R (2001) Forecasting UK construction plant sales. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 8(03), 171–6.

Moore, D R (2001) William of Sen to Bob the Builder: non-cognate cultural perceptions of constructors. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 8(03), 177–84.

Ren, Z, Anumba, C J and Ugwu, O O (2001) Construction claims management: towards an agent-based approach. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 8(03), 185–97.

Sönmez, M, Yang, J B and Holt, G D (2001) Addressing the contractor selection problem using an evidential reasoning approach. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 8(03), 198–210.

Ugwu, O O, Anumba, C J and Thorpe, A (2001) Ontology development for agent-based collaborative design. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 8(03), 211–24.