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Redundancy Optimization for Critical Components in High-Availability Technical Systems

Author

Listed:
  • Kurtuluş Barış Öner

    (Servigistics, Gloucestershire GL12 8QH, United Kingdom)

  • Alan Scheller-Wolf

    (Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213)

  • Geert-Jan van Houtum

    (School of Industrial Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands)

Abstract

We consider a user who buys a number of identical technical systems (e.g., medical, manufacturing, or communication systems) for which she must have very high availability. In such a situation, there are typically several options that the user can choose to facilitate this availability: cold standby redundancy for critical components, buying spare parts with the systems so failed parts can be replaced quickly, and/or application of an emergency procedure to expedite repairs when there is a stock out. To these options we introduce another: the possibility of initiating an emergency shipment when stock is one. Thus, the user may choose different combinations of the redundancy decision and the timing of applications of the emergency procedure, as well as how much spare parts inventory to purchase. We formulate the problem as the minimization of the total costs---acquisition, spare parts, and repair---incurred for the systems over their lifetimes, under a constraint for the total uptime of all systems. We optimally solve the problem by decomposing the multicomponent problem into single-component problems and then conducting exact analysis on these single-component problems. Using these, we construct an efficient frontier that reflects the trade-off between the uptime and the total costs of the systems. In addition, we provide a method to rank the components by the relative value of investing in redundancy. We illustrate these results through numerical examples.

Suggested Citation

  • Kurtuluş Barış Öner & Alan Scheller-Wolf & Geert-Jan van Houtum, 2013. "Redundancy Optimization for Critical Components in High-Availability Technical Systems," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 61(1), pages 244-264, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:oropre:v:61:y:2013:i:1:p:244-264
    DOI: 10.1287/opre.1120.1133
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Xie, Wei & Liao, Haitao & Jin, Tongdan, 2014. "Maximizing system availability through joint decision on component redundancy and spares inventory," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 237(1), pages 164-176.
    2. Qianru Ge & Willem van Jaarsveld & Zümbül Atan, 2020. "Optimal redesign decisions through failure rate estimates," Naval Research Logistics (NRL), John Wiley & Sons, vol. 67(4), pages 254-271, June.
    3. Ge, Qianru & Peng, Hao & van Houtum, Geert-Jan & Adan, Ivo, 2018. "Reliability optimization for series systems under uncertain component failure rates in the design phase," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 163-175.
    4. Shabani, Amir & Visani, Franco & Barbieri, Paolo & Dullaert, Wout & Vigo, Daniele, 2019. "Reliable estimation of suppliers’ total cost of ownership: An imprecise data envelopment analysis model with common weights," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 57-70.

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