Maintainability analysis in shaving blades industry: a case study
International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management
ISSN: 0265-671X
Article publication date: 3 April 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide results for a complete maintainability analysis utilizing data sets from a production system in a shaving blades division of a large high-tech razor manufacturer. Through the illustrated case study, the authors demonstrate how to spot improvement points for enhancing availability by carrying out an equipment effectiveness analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
Descriptive statistics of the repair data and the best fitness index parameters were computed. Repair data were collected from departmental logs, and a preliminary screening analysis was conducted to validate their usefulness for the indicated period of 11 months. Next, the maintainability and repair rate modes for all the machines of the production system were calculated. Maintainability and availability estimations for different time periods that took in account the overall system were obtained by trying out and selecting an optimum statistical model after considering of several popular distributions.
Findings
Out of the five considered machines in the system, two particular units received about half of the repairs (M2 and M3). The time to repair follows a loglogistic distribution and subsequently the mean time to repair is estimated at 25 minutes at the machine level. Repair time performance is approximated at 55 minutes if the availability of the system is to attain a 90 percent maintainability.
Originality/value
This study is anticipated to serve as an illuminating effort in conducting a complete maintainability analysis in the much advertised field of shavers, for which on the contrary so little has been published on operational availability and equipment effectiveness. The case study augments the available pool of sources where executing maintainability studies is highlighted usually under the direction of combined total quality management and total productive maintenance programs.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge financial support provided by the Research Committee of the Technological Education Institute of Central Macedonia Greece, under Grant No. SMF/DL/070716-170/02.
Citation
Tsarouhas, P. and Besseris, G. (2017), "Maintainability analysis in shaving blades industry: a case study", International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 581-594. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQRM-06-2014-0072
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited