Typology of condition based maintenance

The purpose of this paper is the development of an empirically based typology of condition based maintenance (CBM) approaches, including the relevant characteristics and requirements.

An exploratory case study was conducted in a major gas production facility. The CBM typology that resulted from this case study was subsequently tested against a large set of CBM literature.

In the literature, CBM is usually presented as a single theory or practice. The paper finds that CBM in fact includes several different approaches and that each of the approaches is only suitable in situations where the specific characteristics of the approach match the situational characteristics. Aided by these findings, a new typology for CBM was developed. The typology is based on the method for obtaining the expected value, or trend (through statistical vs analytical modeling) and the type of data used (process vs failure data). A subsequent literature survey reveals that the proposed typology is applicable for the categorization of a large number of CBM cases found in the literature.

One of the most important requirements in selecting and using a CBM approach is the availability and integration of various types of knowledge, in particular process engineering and maintenance engineering knowledge. Practitioners can use these insights to assess current CBM cases, and identify the key characteristics of current and future use of various CBM types.

This paper presents a novel and empirically based framework for the classification of the different CBM types. Such frameworks were lacking in the current literature. The paper adds to maintenance engineering literature by identifying the key dimensions of the various types along with their key requirements.