Rules of the Game

1. The unit of time for this game is one shift. That is, all activities of interest to us - processing of
a job and maintenance work on a machine are - assumed to take integral number of shifts.
Durations such as shift or 1 shift are not allowed. Similarly, processing of a job or
maintenance can start only at the beginning and not in the middle of a shift.
2. The workshop works two shifts every day. Machine operators are scheduled for both shifts.
However, the maintenance crew, unless specially requested, work only the first shift. If the crew
is required in the second shift on any day, the crew needs to be informed of the requirement at
the beginning of the first shift itself Depending on your needs, you can decide at the beginning of
each day to request either one or both crew to continue for the second shift.
3. A crew can work on only one machine at a time. Once the crew starts working on a machine,
they cannot switch over to another machine until the ongoing work is over.
4. Each job given to you needs processing on either a turret lathe (L) or a gang drill (D), or both.
In case a job needs both L and D, the job has to be processed in a specific sequence, L-D or D-L,
and this sequence is also specified in the order. Assume that the two turret lathes are identical
and so are the two gang drills. So, if a job requires turret lathe, it can be assigned to either of the
turret lathes. Along with the machine-sequence for each job, the corresponding processing times
are also supplied to you. These times can be treated as deterministic.
5. Except in case of breakdowns, job-splitting is not allowed; that is, you cannot do a fraction of
a job on one machine and the remaining on another. Similarly, after the processing of a job starts
on a machine, it cannot be unloaded from the machine, except when the machine fails. When a
machine fails while processing a job, the job can be shifted to the alternate machine. A machine
can process only one job at a time.
6. At the beginning of each ten-day period, you will be supplied with a list of jobs received. You
can reject some of the jobs. Acceptance of a job implies the following;
(a) The material cost associated with the job is incurred as soon as it is accepted.
(b) The revenue for the job is realized as soon as it is completed.
(c) Late completion of a job results in a penalty of Rs. 30 per day of lateness.
(d) A job, even after acceptance, can be abandoned at any stage before its completion, in which
case in addition to the material cost, a cost of Rs.60 (to account for loss of goodwill, etc.) is
incurred, and no revenue is received.
7. Preventive maintenance can be done only on machines which are in good condition, and not
on the ones in a state of breakdown.

8. As the gap between the two successive preventive maintenances increases the time taken for
preventive maintenance is assumed to similarly increase. The chance of breakdown of a machine
in a shift increases with the time elapsed since the last breakdown. The data of breakdown
patterns, and the times needed for preventive and breakdown maintenance for the machines are
given in Exhibit-A.
9. If a machine is found to be in good condition at the beginning of a shift, then it continues to be
in that condition throughout the shift.
Mode of Playing the Game
Exhibit-B shows the orders to be considered for the first ten-day horizon. You have to decide
which of these orders are to be accepted. You are at the beginning of Shift-1 of day-1. All the
machines are in good condition.
From Shift-2 of Day-I onwards, at the beginning of each shift you are told the condition of each
of your four machines Based on the information, you have to make the following decisions:
(i) Assignment of jobs to machines.
(ii) Assignment of maintenance crew to the machines.
(iii) Abandonment of jobs.
(iv) Requesting the crew to stay for the second shift (if the current shift is the first shift).
After the above decisions are made, you can compute the costs incurred and revenues received
during the shift (because no events happen during a shift) and record them on a worksheet which
will be supplied to you The job and maintenance schedules are to be shown in the form of a
Gantt chart, on spare sheets of paper.
After the decisions for a shift are made, and the worksheet is filled, the condition of the machines
at the beginning of the next shift will be given to you, and this cycle repeats shift-by-shift till the
game is over.

EXHIBIT A1: BREAKDOWN AND MAINTENANCE TIME PATTERN FOR EACH TURRET LATHE

Age of the machine*

(number of shifts)

Probability that
machine will fail at the
end of the age

Time needed for

breakdown
maintenance (number
of shifts)

Time needed for

preventive maintenance
at the end of the age

0.1

2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

0.13
0.17
0.22
0.28
0.36
0.46
0.60
0.77
1.0

1
1
2
2
2
3
3
4
4

1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
5

(a) Age of the machine at the end of a shift = '0 if a preventive or breakdown maintenance is just
over, or age at the end of previous shift + 1 if the machine was processing a job during the shift
just ended, or age at the end of previous shift if the machine was idle during the shift just ended.
(b) The interpretation of the data is as follows, for example, if the age of a lathe at the end of a
shift is 4, then there is a probability of 0.22 that it will breakdown at that age, i.e., at the
beginning of the next period In case the breakdown actually occurs the time needed for repairs is
2 shifts If it is in good condition at the beginning of next period (the probability of this is 1022=088), then you can schedule a preventive maintenance, which takes 1 shift.

EXHIBIT A2 BREAKDOWN AND MAINTENANCE TIME PATTERNS FOR EACH GANG

DRILL

Age of the machine*

(number of shifts)

Probability that
machine will fail at
the end of the age

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

.05
.07
.10
.14
.20
.27
.38
.53
.74
1.0

Time needed for

breakdown
maintenance (number
of shifts)
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
3
4
4

EXHIBIT B JOB ORDERS AT THE BEGINNING OF DAY - 1

Time needed for

preventive
maintenance at the
end of the age
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2

Job
16

Machine sequence
processing time in shifts
L D

Due date
(shifts)
6

Revenue
(Rs)
1000

Materials cost (Rs.)

450

17
18

3
L
L

3
3
D

7
8

500
850

300
350

19

2
L

3
D

530

270

20

2
D

1
2

350

140

DEFINITIONS AND TERMINOLOGY

Asset: Unlike the accounting definition, in maintenance this is commonly taken to be any item of
physical plant or equipment.
Availability: The proportion of total time that an item of equipment is capable of performing its
specified functions, normally expressed as a percentage. It can be calculated by dividing the
equipment available hours by the total number of hours in any given period.
Benchmarking: The process of comparing performance with other organizations is called
benchmarking, it involves identifying comparatively high performance organizations, and
learning what they do that leads them to achieve high level of performance.
Breakdown: A specific type of failure, where an item of plant or equipment is completely unable
to function.
Breakdown Maintenance: Any maintenance work that has not been planned and is a result of
plant or equipment failure.
Condition Based Maintenance: An equipment maintenance strategy based on measuring order
to assess whether it will fail during some future period, and then taking appropriate of that
failure.
Corrective Maintenance: Any maintenance activity which is required to correct a failure that
process of occurring. This activity may consist of repair, restoration or replacement of
components.
Downtime: The time during which an item or equipment is out of service, because of equipment
an item of equipment is available but not utilized is generally not included in the calculation of
downtime.

Economic Life: The total length of time that an asset is expected to remain actively in service
before it is expected that it would be cheaper to replace the equipment rather than continuing to
maintain it.
Expert System: A software based system which makes or evaluates decisions based on rules
established within the software. Typically used for fault diagnosis.
Failure: An item of equipment has suffered a failure when it is no longer capable of fulfilling
one or more of its intended functions.
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis: A structured method of determining equipment functions,
functional failures, assessing the causes of failures and their failure effects. The first part of a
Reliability Centered Maintenance analysis is a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis.
Function: The definition of what we want an item of equipment to do and the level of
performance which the users of the equipment require when it does it.
Infant Mortality: The relatively high conditional probability of failure during the period
immediately after an item returns to service.
Inspection: Any task undertaken to determine the condition of equipment and/or to determine
the tools, labour, materials, and equipment required to repair the item.
Maintenance: Any activity carried out on an asset in order to ensure that the asset continues to
perform its intended functions Otto repair the equipment Note that modifications are not
maintenance even though they may be carried out by maintenance personnel
Maintenance Schedule: A list of planned maintenance tasks to be performed during a given time
period, together with the expected start times and durations of each of these tasks.
Planned Maintenance: Any maintenance activity for which, a pre-determined job procedure has
been documented - all labour, materials, tools, and equipment required to carry out the task have
been estimated - and their availability assured.
Predictive Maintenance: An equipment maintenance strategy based on measuring the condition
of equipment in order to assess whether it will fail during some future period, and then taking
appropriate action to avoid the consequences of that failure.
Preventive Maintenance: An equipment maintenance strategy based on replacing, overhauling
or remanufacturing an item at a fixed interval, regardless of its condition at the time.
Reliability: The capability of an asset to continue to perform its intended functions. Normally
measured by Mean Time between Failures.
Reliability Centered Maintenance: A structured process, originally developed in the airline
industry, but now commonly used in all industries to determine the equipment maintenance

strategies required for any physical asset to ensure that it continues to fulfil its intended functions
in its present operating context.
Repair: Any activity which returns the capability of an asset that has failed to a level of
performance equal to, or greater than that specified by its functions but not greater than its
original maximum capability.
Safety Consequences: A failure has safety consequences if it causes a loss of function or other
damage that could hurt or kill someone.
Scheduled Maintenance: Any maintenance work that has been planned and included in an
approved Maintenance Schedule.
Shutdown: That period during which equipment is out of service.
Tribology: The process of monitoring the condition of equipment through the analysis of
properties of its lubricating and other oils. It is typically conducted through the measurement of
particulates in the odor the chemical composition of the oil (Spectrographic Oil Analysis).
Commonly used for monitoring the condition of large gearboxes, engines and transformers,
amongst other applications.
Total Productive Maintenance: A company-wide equipment management program, with its
origins in Japan, emphasizing production operator involvement in equipment maintenance, and
continuous improvement approaches.
Useful Life: The maximum length of time that a component can be left in service, before it will
start to experience a rapidly increasing probability of failure.
Vibration Analysis: The process of monitoring the condition of equipment, and the diagnosis of
faults in equipment through the measurement and analysis of vibration within that equipment. It
is typically conducted through hand-held or permanently positioned accelerometers placed on
key measurement points on the equipment.
Accident: An unplanned, unwanted, and unexpected event which, because of an unsafe actor
unsafe condition, results in property damage, injury, or death.
Accident Investigation: A detailed, defined, and recorded review of an occurrence, done to
uncover and record the factors and causes and their relationships which led up to and caused an
accident or incident.
Accident Records: Recorded information in the form of reports and records detailing the
accidents, i'fraii1 injuries that have occurred in a company or industry.
Accident Report: A -document containing the information and facts about an individual accident
or incident put in chronological order to province a complete picture as to what happened. It is
also a tool to help establish the ROOT cause.

Emergency: An abnormal situation which - to limit damage to persons, property or the

environment - requires prompt action beyond normal procedures.
Physical Hazard: A hazard that is neither biological nor chemical but that exists around us, or
because of the things we do, e.g., weather and personal work habits.
Safe Work Practices: Procedure for carrying out specific tasks which, when followed, will
ensure that workers' exposure to hazardous situations, substances, and physical agents is
controlled by the manner in which the work is carried-out.