Simulation of maintenance activities for micro-manufacturing systems by use of predictive quality control charts

In micro manufacturing, the determination and scheduling of maintenance activities can strongly impact the production efficiency of the corresponding production system. Thereby, the supervision of quality relevant parts, tools and components can be very complex, due to the limited spaces within the manufacturing devices. This article proposes an extension of quality control charts by adding predictive component. This component predicts at which point in time maintenance activities are required based on quality characteristics of the produced work pieces. The article further presents two simulation studies. These demonstrate that the extended approach can compete with well configured time-based maintenance strategies in terms of production efficiency and rejection rates. In addition the predictive nature of this extension can issue forewarnings for tool wear induced quality defects very early during production, allowing for a suitable integration of maintenance activities into the production schedule.