The Southern Company Uses a Probability Model for Cost Justification of Oil Sample Analysis

One of the difficult decisions facing managers responsible for maintaining motor vehicle and construction equipment fleets is whether or not to implement oil analysis programs. We developed a simple probability model for the Southern Company which enables their maintenance managers to evaluate various maintenance strategies including options that incorporate oil sampling programs. The model has been used to determine optimum policies for five classes of equipment and to assess the sensitivity of these results to various changes in the model parameters.