Development of a maintenance management support system based on a hierarchical fault classification

In order to perform effective maintenance activities in manufacturing systems, it is necessary to assess the nature of failures and to generate information available for selecting an appropriate maintenance policy for individual cases. For acquiring information concerning failure, a systematic methodology for managing maintenance information is essential. Therefore, the Hierarchical Fault Classification (HFC) method was proposed. The aim of this study is to develop the computer system which supports the decision making in practical maintenance management. This system is based on the HFC method, and can provide procedures and information for maintenance management: analyzing various failures that occurred, identifying their process, selecting appropriate maintenance policy and estimating the maintenance effect for the maintenance activities performed. We offer some examples to demonstrate the performance and the advantages of this system.