Criticality evaluation to support maintenance management of manufacturing systems

This paper focuses on criticality evaluation for supporting daily equipment maintenance management and the definition of medium and long-term maintenance actions to improve equipment and, therefore, productivity. These two different purposes led to the development of two different methods for criticality evaluation, using criteria adjusted for each case. The first method is based on rules for defining priorities for corrective and preventive maintenance tasks. Since a failure mode of critical equipment is not necessarily critical, priorities for maintenance tasks are assigned to tasks rather than to equipment. The second method uses Analytic Hierarchy Process to prioritize equipment based on its performance. This method is based on the indicators commonly monitored by maintenance departments. In addition to assessing equipment performance, it considers the maintenance effort made to achieve the evaluated performance. The selection of the criticality criteria and the development of the methods was based on literature review and triggered by a case study in a multinational automotive company. With the integration of the proposed methods in a computerized maintenance management system, maintenance technicians and managers are able to know in real time the tasks that should be performed first and to monitor the overall performance of equipment in the plant, focusing improvements where they are more required.POFC - Programa Operacional Temático Factores de Competitividade (UID/CEC/00319/2013

COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORKS FOR DECISION MAKING SUPPORT IN MEDICAL EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT

Throughout medical equipment life cycle, hospitals need to take decisions on medical equipment management based upon a set of different criteria. In fact, medical equipment acquisition, preventive maintenance, and replacement are considered the most important phases, accordingly a properly planned management for these issues is considered a key decision of medical equipment management. In this thesis, a set of frameworks were developed regarding acquisition, preventive maintenance, and replacement to improve management process of medical equipment. In practice, quality function deployment was proposed as a core method around which the frameworks were developed

Risk-based maintenance of critical and complex systems

Tableau d’honneur de la Faculté des études supérieures et postdoctorales, 2016-2017.De nos jours, la plupart des systèmes dans divers secteurs critiques tels que l'aviation, le pétrole et les soins de santé sont devenus très complexes et dynamiques, et par conséquent peuvent à tout moment s'arrêter de fonctionner. Pour éviter que cela ne se reproduise et ne devienne incontrôlable ce qui engagera des pertes énormes en matière de coûts et d'indisponibilité; l'adoption de stratégies de contrôle et de maintenance s'avèrent plus que nécessaire et même vitale. Dans le génie des procédés, les stratégies optimales de maintenance pour ces systèmes pourraient avoir un impact significatif sur la réduction des coûts et sur les temps d'arrêt, sur la maximisation de la fiabilité et de la productivité, sur l'amélioration de la qualité et enfin pour atteindre les objectifs souhaités des compagnies. En outre, les risques et les incertitudes associés à ces systèmes sont souvent composés de plusieurs relations de cause à effet de façon extrêmement complexe. Cela pourrait mener à une augmentation du nombre de défaillances de ces systèmes. Par conséquent, un outil d'analyse de défaillance avancée est nécessaire pour considérer les interactions complexes de défaillance des composants dans les différentes phases du cycle de vie du produit pour assurer les niveaux élevés de sécurité et de fiabilité. Dans cette thèse, on aborde dans un premier temps les lacunes des méthodes d'analyse des risques/échec et celles qui permettent la sélection d'une classe de stratégie de maintenance à adopter. Nous développons ensuite des approches globales pour la maintenance et l'analyse du processus de défaillance fondée sur les risques des systèmes et machines complexes connus pour être utilisées dans toutes les industries. Les recherches menées pour la concrétisation de cette thèse ont donné lieu à douze contributions importantes qui se résument comme suit: Dans la première contribution, on aborde les insuffisances des méthodes en cours de sélection de la stratégie de maintenance et on développe un cadre fondé sur les risques en utilisant des méthodes dites du processus de hiérarchie analytique (Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), de cartes cognitives floues (Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM)), et la théorie des ensembles flous (Fuzzy Soft Sets (FSS)) pour sélectionner la meilleure politique de maintenance tout en considérant les incertitudes. La deuxième contribution aborde les insuffisances de la méthode de l'analyse des modes de défaillance, de leurs effets et de leur criticité (AMDEC) et son amélioration en utilisant un modèle AMDEC basée sur les FCM. Les contributions 3 et 4, proposent deux outils de modélisation dynamique des risques et d'évaluation à l'aide de la FCM pour faire face aux risques de l'externalisation de la maintenance et des réseaux de collaboration. Ensuite, on étend les outils développés et nous proposons un outil d'aide à la décision avancée pour prédire l'impact de chaque risque sur les autres risques ou sur la performance du système en utilisant la FCM (contribution 5).Dans la sixième contribution, on aborde les risques associés à la maintenance dans le cadre des ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)) et on propose une autre approche intégrée basée sur la méthode AMDEC floue pour la priorisation des risques. Dans les contributions 7, 8, 9 et 10, on effectue une revue de la littérature concernant la maintenance basée sur les risques des dispositifs médicaux, puisque ces appareils sont devenus très complexes et sophistiqués et l'application de modèles de maintenance et d'optimisation pour eux est assez nouvelle. Ensuite, on développe trois cadres intégrés pour la planification de la maintenance et le remplacement de dispositifs médicaux axée sur les risques. Outre les contributions ci-dessus, et comme étude de cas, nous avons réalisé un projet intitulé “Mise à jour de guide de pratique clinique (GPC) qui est un cadre axé sur les priorités pour la mise à jour des guides de pratique cliniques existantes” au centre interdisciplinaire de recherche en réadaptation et intégration sociale du Québec (CIRRIS). Nos travaux au sein du CIRRIS ont amené à deux importantes contributions. Dans ces deux contributions (11e et 12e) nous avons effectué un examen systématique de la littérature pour identifier les critères potentiels de mise à jour des GPCs. Nous avons validé et pondéré les critères identifiés par un sondage international. Puis, sur la base des résultats de la onzième contribution, nous avons développé un cadre global axé sur les priorités pour les GPCs. Ceci est la première fois qu'une telle méthode quantitative a été proposée dans la littérature des guides de pratiques cliniques. L'évaluation et la priorisation des GPCs existants sur la base des critères validés peuvent favoriser l'acheminement des ressources limitées dans la mise à jour de GPCs qui sont les plus sensibles au changement, améliorant ainsi la qualité et la fiabilité des décisions de santé.Today, most systems in various critical sectors such as aviation, oil and health care have become very complex and dynamic, and consequently can at any time stop working. To prevent this from reoccurring and getting out of control which incur huge losses in terms of costs and downtime; the adoption of control and maintenance strategies are more than necessary and even vital. In process engineering, optimal maintenance strategies for these systems could have a significant impact on reducing costs and downtime, maximizing reliability and productivity, improving the quality and finally achieving the desired objectives of the companies. In addition, the risks and uncertainties associated with these systems are often composed of several extremely complex cause and effect relationships. This could lead to an increase in the number of failures of such systems. Therefore, an advanced failure analysis tool is needed to consider the complex interactions of components’ failures in the different phases of the product life cycle to ensure high levels of safety and reliability. In this thesis, we address the shortcomings of current failure/risk analysis and maintenance policy selection methods in the literature. Then, we develop comprehensive approaches to maintenance and failure analysis process based on the risks of complex systems and equipment which are applicable in all industries. The research conducted for the realization of this thesis has resulted in twelve important contributions, as follows: In the first contribution, we address the shortcomings of the current methods in selecting the optimum maintenance strategy and develop an integrated risk-based framework using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCM), and fuzzy Soft set (FSS) tools to select the best maintenance policy by considering the uncertainties.The second contribution aims to address the shortcomings of traditional failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) method and enhance it using a FCM-based FMEA model. Contributions 3 and 4, present two dynamic risk modeling and assessment tools using FCM for dealing with risks of outsourcing maintenance and collaborative networks. Then, we extend the developed tools and propose an advanced decision support tool for predicting the impact of each risk on the other risks or on the performance of system using FCM (contribution 5). In the sixth contribution, we address the associated risks in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) maintenance and we propose another integrated approach using fuzzy FMEA method for prioritizing the risks. In the contributions 7, 8, 9, and 10, we perform a literature review regarding the risk-based maintenance of medical devices, since these devices have become very complex and sophisticated and the application of maintenance and optimization models to them is fairly new. Then, we develop three integrated frameworks for risk-based maintenance and replacement planning of medical devices. In addition to above contributions, as a case study, we performed a project titled “Updating Clinical Practice Guidelines; a priority-based framework for updating existing guidelines” in CIRRIS which led to the two important contributions. In these two contributions (11th and 12th) we first performed a systematic literature review to identify potential criteria in updating CPGs. We validated and weighted the identified criteria through an international survey. Then, based on the results of the eleventh contribution, we developed a comprehensive priority-based framework for updating CPGs based on the approaches that we had already developed and applied success fully in other industries. This is the first time that such a quantitative method has been proposed in the literature of guidelines. Evaluation and prioritization of existing CPGs based on the validated criteria can promote channelling limited resources into updating CPGs that are most sensitive to change, thus improving the quality and reliability of healthcare decisions made based on current CPGs. Keywords: Risk-based maintenance, Maintenance strategy selection, FMEA, FCM, Medical devices, Clinical practice guidelines

HEALTH TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT FOR MEDICAL DEVICES

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) methods have become a standard part of decision-making processes in healthcare service. Although it is routinely applied in drugs and surgery, HTA in medical devices is still quite challenging. The reason is that the main objective of HTA studies for devices is not optimization of the costeffectiveness ratio, but rather decisions about procurement and/or incorporation of the device. The clinical benefit is not expressed in terms of quality of life, but in the rate of diagnostic yield, and in the extent to which the technology makes the therapy shorter and/or more patient-friendly. Utilization of multiple-criteria decision-making methods for evaluation of the aggregated clinical, technical and user´s effect (outcome) is recommended as the input to costeffectiveness analyses. Different methods are derived for strategic and/or operational assessment of new technology. Other studied problems are identification of requirements for medical device selection and purchase, composition of expert panels, and assessment of medical device maintenance demandingness

Decision-Making Framework for Medical Equipment Maintenance and Replacement in Private Hospitals

The process for medical equipment maintenance and replacement in hospitals is a challenging and demanding procedure. Further, the topic of making decisions to maintain or replace or upgrade medical equipment has been debated for a long time since errors equipment maintenance will increase equipment failure at undesirable times; or if early equipment replacement will result in high investment costs and premature disposal. Therefore, standard operating procedures or guidelines need to be in place to help healthcare facilities conduct a more organized and planned maintenance and replacement process. Many hospitals may already have established replacement guidelines or have implemented asset monitoring systems for this purpose. However, the effectiveness of this system has not yet been systematically evaluated. Several studies have been conducted on the same research topic, but most of the findings emphasize the replacement method rather than the criteria that contributed to the decision. Criteria for replacing medical equipment play an important role in ensuring that the equipment can be used cost-effectively. Thus, this research aims to identify important criteria that need to be considered for medical equipment maintenance and replacement focusing on private hospitals. This research was conducted in three phases: (1) a structured literature review; (2) semi-structured interviews with eleven (11) healthcare experts; and (3) a pairwise comparison survey with 50 biomedical engineers. A decision-making framework was developed based on the findings of these three research phases. The framework developed will provide guidelines for practitioners and academics to understand and make better decisions for medical equipment maintenance and replacement in the context of private hospitals

Prioritization of planned maintenance works in public hospitals in Hong Kong

Thesis (B.Sc)--University of Hong Kong, 2006.published_or_final_versio

Integrated Performance Analysis and Optimum Fund Allocation for Capital Renewal of Healthcare Facilities

Healthcare facilities, including hospitals, are among the most challenging assets to maintain and modernize. An accurate performance assessment is essential for the appropriate prioritization of the subsystems that are competing for limited capital-renewal funds. Traditionally, physical condition has been the primary indicator of performance; however, other criteria have recently been added: level of service, sustainability, and risk, all of which are crucial for hospital buildings. This research introduces a practical and efficient framework for capital renewal for hospital facilities. The framework incorporates five unique aspects: (1) a two-dimensional hierarchy that accounts for the interrelationships between the hospital systems and the hospital spaces; (2) a multi-criteria performance assessment process that combines physical condition, level of service, sustainability, and risk of failure; (3) a visual all-on-site inspection application on hand-held tablet; (4) a mechanism for efficient prioritization of capital renewal tasks; and (5) optimization process for near-optimum allocation of capital-renewal of the limited capital renewal budget. The framework assesses hospital subsystems, incorporating consideration of the service quality within the indoor spaces and their impact on related subsystems. For renewal purposes, an appropriate subsystem priority index is then computed accordingly, taking into account the multi-criteria performance of the subsystems. Surveys of hospital maintenance experts have been used both for the collection of data for the development of the framework and for its validation. A prototype of the framework has been implemented in a user-friendly application whose performance was tested through two hospital case studies, the first of which was also employed for testing the prioritization and optimization functions of the framework. The results of six case study scenarios, with varying budget constraints and objective functions demonstrated the practicality and capability of the framework with respect to maximizing the performance of the facility relative to any desirable performance criteria. The proposed framework re-engineers the traditional process of facility performance assessment and also significantly enhances the capital renewal process by speeding the assessment process and efficiently allocating the renewal budget to maximize the return on the investment. This framework can be easily adapted to other types of building facilities and other infrastructure assets, thus contributing to sustaining the economy and the welfare of residents.1 yea

Transforming medical equipment management in digital public health: a decision-making model for medical equipment replacement

IntroductionIn the rapidly evolving field of digital public health, effective management of medical equipment is critical to maintaining high standards of healthcare service levels and operational efficiency. However, current decisions to replace large medical equipment are often based on subjective judgments rather than objective analyses and lack a standardized approach. This study proposes a multi-criteria decision-making model that aims to simplify and enhance the medical equipment replacement process.MethodsThe researchers developed a multi-criteria decision-making model specifically for the replacement of medical equipment. The model establishes a system of indicators for prioritizing and evaluating the replacement of large medical equipment, utilizing game theory to assign appropriate weights, which uniquely combines the weights of the COWA and PCA method. In addition, which uses the GRA method in combination with the TOPSIS method for a more comprehensive decision-making model.ResultsThe study validates the model by using the MRI equipment of a tertiary hospital as an example. The results of the study show that the model is effective in prioritizing the most optimal updates to the equipment. Significantly, the model shown a higher level of differentiation compared to the GRA and TOPSIS methods alone.DiscussionThe present study shows that the multi-criteria decision-making model presented provides a powerful and accurate tool for optimizing decisions related to the replacement of large medical equipment. By solving the key challenges in this area as well as giving a solid basis for decision making, the model makes significant progress toward the field of management of medical equipment

Multi-Criteria Decision Making for Medical Device Development

International audienceThe development of a new product is a complicated multi-stakeholder process with a significant risk of failure. This is particularly true in the medical device sector, where there are strict therapeutic, psychological, and normative constraints. This article presents a multi-criteria decision making process called “Define, Prioritize, Measure, and Aggregate” (DPMA). DPMA is designed to help engineering managers in decision making during the development process of new medical devices. The model is based on two sets of criteria linked to business and customer satisfaction. These criteria are weighted using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and group decision making (GDM) process. The performance of a medical device is measured according to each criterion. Furthermore, the final score of GO/NO GO alternatives are calculated with the simple additive weighting (SAW) method. A case study for the development of a new kind of femoral implant is presented to demonstrate the implementation of the DPMA process. This study shows that the application of the DPMA process during the design of a 3D printed femoral prosthesis provided engineering managers the key elements and green light to go ahead with the development of this medical device