Supportability scenario-based contract alternatives for operating life of a mechanical system

Supportability for a user is the ability of the manufacturer to execute all the support activities that are required for the upkeep of the system, in the most effective, efficient and timely manner throughout the operating life of the product, whenever and wherever needed. In this work, the various issues of supportability of mechanical systems have been studied. The case study is conducted on a compressor manufacturer (Burckhardt), which provides support to their end products that are installed at compressed natural gas stations in National Capital Region (NCR). Both the Burckhardt and its customer have aggressive plans of expanding their operations to new locations in future. As a first step, it is necessary to have a mechanism to generate and evaluate various contract alternatives (CAs) with an objective of minimising the costs incurred to various players in the contract and at the same time, ensuring the minimum service level performance of the system. The methodology presented in this paper will be helpful to Burckhardt and/or any original equipment manufacturer in general, for selecting supportability-based CAs. This study will also be helpful to researchers, engineers, maintenance professionals and other persons concerned, to understand the issues involved in supportability-based CAs.