Maintenance strategy selection in electric power distribution systems

Despite their importance for the proper operation of both care and non-care services, there are no models in the literature analysing the choice of the most suitable maintenance strategy to be applied in electric power distribution systems in Health Care Organizations. This paper presents an innovative multicriteria which contributes to ensuring the best quality of care for the patient. The model integrates the Measuring Attractiveness by a Categorical Based Evaluation Technique approach with Markov chains to obtain the expected mean availability for different electric power distribution systems. The result is a full classification of the combination of maintenance policies and actions (redundancy), to be applied in power distribution systems. The model gives, as the most suitable maintenance strategy, a combination of corrective, preventive and predictive maintenance (thermal analysis). It is the first model produced and applied to a variety of electric power distribution systems responsible for supplying electrical energy to critical areas of the Health Care Organizations, such as operating theatres, intensive care units, paediatrics, general lighting and other specific areas. The result obtained is compared with the maintenance policy currently used by the organization, and a plan for the implantation of the alternative given for the model is produced.