Optimization of Improvement Level for Second-Hand Product with Periodic Maintenance Schedule

Due to a growing demand for the second-hand product, especially for the expensive one, the warranty and maintenance policies for such products have been studied to improve the product reliability of late. In this paper we study a periodic maintenance model for the second-hand product which is purchased by the customer at the age of x. When purchased, the dealer provides a warranty of a xed length during which the product is maintained periodically to reduce the failure rate of the product and thus, to improve the reliability after each maintenance is served. If a failure occurs between two successive maintenances, only minimal repair is conducted. As for the warranty policy, we adopt free non-renewing repair action on each failure, in addition to the periodic maintenance service during the warranty period. Thus, under the given warranty policy, all the maintenance and repair costs incurred during the warranty period are charged to the dealer. For the proposed periodic maintenance scheme, we formulate a cost model to evaluate the expected total cost charged to the dealer during the warranty period and derive an optimal upgrade level of the failure rate at each maintenance to minimize the expected total warranty cost from the perspective of the dealer