These proceedings present a collected volume of papers submitted for the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) 6^th international conference on Modelling in Industrial Maintenance and Reliability (MIMAR) held on the 10^th and 11^th September 2007 at the Lowry Centre in Salford Quays, Manchester. The conference has been jointly organised by the IMA and the Centre for Operational Research and Applied Statistics (CORAS) at the University of Salford. The MIMAR conferences follow a three year cycle; previous conferences were held at the University of Edinburgh (1992, 1998) and the University of Salford (1995, 2001, 2004).

The aim of the conference is to provide an overview of current research in industrial maintenance and reliability modelling and discussion on areas of future research. Topics for presentation include; life cycle analysis and maintenance strategies, inspections and replacements, condition monitoring and condition-based maintenance, and warrantee analysis and logistics.

The conference involves researchers from all over the UK, China, Czech Republic, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Kuwait, Sweden, Finland and more. All delegates were asked to produce a short paper according to a particular format describing the work that they intended to present at the conference. It is these papers that are collected together for presentation in this volume. Authors were asked to construct the papers according to a specific format thus assisting the editing process and enabling the proceedings to have a consistent style and presentation. The short papers enable authors to; (i) publish research, (ii) provide the interested listener with supportive material during the course of presentations, and (iii) allow authors to supply additional material that may be difficult to present to complement the presentation, provide support and a point of reference for further discussion.

Where possible, the papers are organised according to the scheduled order of presentation in the conference programme. When papers have not been supplied due to restrictions on time or the required format, abstracts only have been included in these proceedings. In addition, authors have been invited to submit for publication in a special issue of the IMA journal of ‘Management Mathematics’ an extended version of the papers presented here. Papers submitted for the special issue will be subject to a more rigorous refereeing process consistent with standard scientific journals. Details are available on the IMA web-site and papers are due by 31^st September 2007.

MATTHEW CARR

PHILIP SCARF

WENBIN WANG

August 2007.

(Organised according to the order of presentation at the conference)

		Pg

Modelling different failure modes in CBM applications using a weighted combination of stochastic filters M J Carr and W Wang		1

Remaining useful life in condition based maintenance: Is it useful? D Banjevic and A K S Jardine		7

Demand categorisation in a European spare parts logistics network (Abstract only) A A Syntetos, M Z Babai and M Keyes		13

How academics can help industry and the other way around R Dwight, H Martin and J Sharp		14

Stochastic modelling maintenance actions of complex systems J R Kearney, D F Percy and K A H Kobbacy		18

Application of the delay-time concept in a manufacturing industry B Jones, I Jenkinson and J Wang		23

A preventive maintenance decision model based on a MCDA approach R J P Ferreira, C A V Cavalcante and A T de Almeida		29

Predicting the performance of future generations of complex repairable systems, through analysis of reliability and maintenance data T J Jefferis, N Montgomery and T Dowd		35

A note on a calibration method of control parameters in simulation models for software reliability assessment M Kimura		40

Estimating the availability of a reverse osmosis plant M Hajeeh, F Faramarzi and G Al-Essa		45

The use of IT within maintenance management for continuous improvement A Ingwald and M Kans		51

An approximate algorithm for condition-based maintenance applications M J Carr and W Wang		57

The utility of a maintenance policy R D Baker		63

Stochastic demand patterns for Markov service facilities with neutral and active periods A Csenki		68

Multicriteria decision model for selecting maintenance contracts by applying utility theory and variable interdependent parameters A J de Melo Brito and A T de Almeida		74

Spare parts planning and risk assessment associated with non-considering system operating environment B Ghodrati		80

Modern maintenance system based on web and mobile technologies J Campos, E Jantunen and O Prakash		91

A literature review of computerised maintenance management support M Kans		96

Some generalizations of age and block replacement (Abstract only) P Scarf		102

Scheduling the imperfect preventive maintenance policy for deteriorating systems Y Jia and X Chen		103

Contribution to modelling of dynamic dependability of complex systems D Valis		110

Weak sound pulse extraction in pipe leak inspection using stochastic resonance Y Dingxin and X Yongcheng		116

An empirical comparison of periodic stock control heuristics for intermittent demand items (Abstract only) M Z Babai and A A Syntetos		121

Minimising average long-run cost for systems monitored by the np control chart S Wu and W Wang		122

Based on the CBR method to determine the maintenance tasks for aircraft structural significant items G Duanyang		129

Condition evaluation of equipment in power plant based on grey theory J Li and S Huang		134

Modelling in Industrial Maintenance and Reliability

Preface

Contents