Maintenance Performance Determinants

1. Summary

The maintenance performance of equipment across various plants and environmental factors is influenced by specific elements identified through our analysis. Issues are observed to be more prevalent in equipment situated in certain locations, particular months, and with certain equipment models. Notably, specific locations such as Houston experience a higher rate of maintenance problems, possibly due to environmental factors like humidity and corrosion. Additionally, some equipment models inherently display a higher risk of maintenance issues. Certain months appear to improve maintenance outcomes, suggesting seasonal or operational patterns that could be leveraged to enhance efficiency. Understanding these determinants helps in preemptively addressing problems, ensuring improved reliability and performance of equipment.

2. Key Findings

3. Method

The insights above are derived from a Cox Proportional Hazards Model, widely used for estimating the impact of variables on events over time, such as equipment failures. This method allows us to measure how different factors (or covariates) affect the time till maintenance is needed, by comparing the rate at which different scenarios lead to failures. The model handles time-to-event data and calculates hazard ratios (risk multipliers) for each covariate, indicating whether a specific factor increases or decreases the risk of maintenance issues. While powerful, this model assumes that the factors included influence maintenance performance proportionally over time, an assumption that might not hold true universally and could limit its predictive power.