Availability allocation through importance measures

Purpose To define availability importance measures in order to calculate the criticality of each component or subsystem from the availability point of view and also to demonstrate the application of such importance measures for achieving optimal resource allocation to arrive at the best possible availability. Design/methodology/approach In this study the availability importance measures of a component are defined as a partial derivative of the system availability with respect to the component availability, failure rate, and repair rate. Analyses of these measures for a crushing plant are performed and the results are presented. Furthermore, a methodology aimed at improving the availability of a system using the concept of importance measures is identified and demonstrated by use of a numerical example. Findings The availability importance measure of a component/subsystem is an index which shows how far an individual component contributes to the overall system availability. The research study indicates that the availability importance measures could be applied in developing a strategy for availability improvement. The subsystem/component with the largest value of importance measure has the greatest effect on the system availability. Research limitations/implications The result of availability improvement strategy is demonstrated using only a hypothetical example. Practical implications Using availability importance measures will help managers and engineers to identify weaknesses and indicate modifications which will improve the system availability. Originality/value This paper presents the concept of availability importance measure for a component/subsystem. It also introduces some availability importance measures based on failure rate, mean time between failures (MTBF), and repair rate/mean time to repair (MTTR) of a component /subsystem. The concept of importance measures is used to prioritise the components or subsystems for the availability improvement process.