Human factor modelled by fuzzy logic in preventive maintenance actions

This paper uses fuzzy logic to model the imperfections of maintenance actions due to operators. In general, enterprises using a perfect maintenance policy must introduce important maintenance improvement tools to ensure that maintenance actions are really perfect. In fact, the accuracy of such actions can never be pulled apart of the human factor and so, its inclusion in the maintenance programmes is crucial to reduce maintenance costs. Nevertheless, this human factor is very difficult to model and therefore it is generally not included in maintenance programmes. Accordingly, the interest in ruled‐based fuzzy logic arises as an important tool to model system imperfections such as worker's skills. Based on this fuzzy model, a minimisation of maintenance costs is considered in this paper and compared with a perfect maintenance model.