Analyzing Maintenance Strategies and Development of a Model for Strategy Formulation – A Case Study of Cement Industry
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Abstract
Effective maintenance strategies are critical for ensuring efficiency, reliability, and sustainability in the cement industry, where equipment downtime significantly affect productivity and costs. This study evaluates existing maintenance practices in Yemeni cement factories and proposes an optimized strategy using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). A mixed-methods design combined survey data from 118 professionals with case studies from three cement plants. The findings reveal a predominant reliance on Corrective Maintenance (CM) owing to technological and training limitations, while Preventive Maintenance (PM) is inconsistently applied. By contrast, predictive maintenance (PdM) and Proactive Maintenance (PrM), though demonstrably more effective, remain un-derutilized. The AHP model prioritizes key operational criteria—productivity, cost, reliability, and availability and identifies PrM as the highest ranked strategy because of its superior benefits in enhancing reliability and productivity. This research advocates for a phased transition toward PdM/PrM, recommending strategic investments in scalable technologies, such as Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled condition monitoring and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven analytics, alongside government-supported training initiatives. By adapting the AHP framework to a conflict-affected setting, this study provides a replicable blueprint for industries in fragile economies. Future research could expand the AHP model to include environmental and social criteria, apply it across other industrial sectors in Yemen, and conduct longitudinal studies to assess the long-term impact of the recommended strategies.
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