Proactive Maintenance Model Using Reinforcement Learning Algorithm in Rubber Industry

This paper presents an investigation into the enhancement of availability of a curing machine deployed in the rubber industry, located in Tamilnadu in India. Machine maintenance is a major task in the rubber industry, due to the demand for product. Critical component identification in curing machines is necessary to prevent rapid failure followed by subsequent repairs that extend curing machine downtime. A reward in the Reinforcement Learning Algorithm (RLA) prevents frequent downtime by improving the availability of the curing machine at time when unscheduled long-term maintenance would interfere with operation, due to the occurrence of unspecified failure to a critical component. Over time, depreciation and degradation of components in a machine are unavoidable, as is shown in the present investigation through intelligent assessment of the lifespan of components. So far, no effective methodology has been implemented in a real-time maintenance environment. RLAs seem to be a more effective application when it is based on intelligent assessment, which encompasses the failure and repair rate used to calculate availability in an automated environment. Training of RLAs is performed to evaluate overall equipment efficiency (OEE) in terms of availability. The availability of a curing machine in the form of state probability is modeled in first-order differential-difference equations. RLAs maximize the rate of availability of the machine. Preventive maintenance (PM) rate for four modules of 16 curing machines is expressed in a transition diagram, using transition rate. Transition rate indicates the degree of PM and unplanned maintenance rates that defines the total availability of the four modules. OEE is expressed in terms of the availability of curing machines, which is related to performance and quality. The results obtained by RLA are promising regarding short-term and long-term efficiencies of OEE, which are 95.19% and 83.37%, respectively.