Cycle management of manufacturing resources: identification and prioritization of investment needs

A novel lifecycle framework for managing manufacturing resources within a company is presented to support the timely, systematic identification of technological need for action. In contrast to the established bathtub curve, the equipments’ age, maintenance costs, downtimes, and technical condition are considered quantitatively taking uncertainties into account. The developed methodology therefore comprises contingency analysis and applies a dynamic set of fuzzy rules for classifying the cycle-stage of multiple manufacturing resources. Integrating these functionalities within one holistic framework, this approach far exceeds existing methods for proactively managing the manufacturing resource lifecycle. Cooperating with one of the leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles, a database comprising 221 relevant manufacturing resource datasets was built as a foundation for statistical analysis. Besides offering general recommendations facilitating a proactive management approach, the developed lifecycle model concentrates further activities on elements that show major improvement potential.