Maintenance management decision making

Maintenance management of industrial equipment is an important but still relatively neglected business function. This paper identifies and discusses the most important elements of its decision making environment. As such the paper contributes to the structuring of the maintenance management area and it provides a frame of reference for further research in maintenance policy optimization. The paper starts with a brief description of maintenance management in a business context. In the remainder of the paper three parts may be distinguished. The first addresses the system design aspects of maintenance management in the broader operations management environment, the second examines the most important issues in maintenance decision making and the last part reviews the managerial tools available for decision making in this area. An extensive list of references is provided.