| Article ID: | iaor2005340 |
| Country: | United States |
| Volume: | 34 |
| Issue: | 5 |
| Start Page Number: | 303 |
| End Page Number: | 308 |
| Publication Date: | Apr 2003 |
| Journal: | International Journal of Systems Science |
| Authors: | Tse Y.K., Lam Y. |
| Keywords: | maintenance, repair & replacement |
A monotone process model is introduced for a deteriorating system with k + 1 states (k working states and one failure state). We prove that the model is equivalent to a geometric process model for a two-state system, in the sense that both systems have the same long-run average cost per unit time and the same optimal maintenance policy. Finally, an optimal maintenance policy for the deteriorating system is determined analytically.