Application of Multiagent Simulation for Maintenance Workflow Management and Resource Allocation in Hospital Buildings
Publication: Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 27, Issue 2
Abstract
Facility managers of hospitals face complex maintenance decisions as they deal with a multitude of maintenance requests in an environment of limited resources and segmented information. Responding to a growing demand for maintenance, on one hand, and lack of proper maintenance management systems, on the other, has led to delays in repair and maintenance of the building components and systems in hospitals. Such delays could cause significant distress to patients and health care personnel. This paper introduces a new method for facility managers to address these challenges. The multimethod simulation approach is developed to integrate segmented information at different levels of maintenance management, with the aim of minimizing maintenance delays in hospital buildings. The developed simulation model consists of two components: a status tracking system (STS) and a resource allocation system (RAS). A discrete event simulation (DES) is used to simulate the maintenance process flow while a multi-agent system (MAS) is used to simulate the process of allocating resources for maintenance activities in hospital buildings. The STS simulation is a DES process that registers, arranges, and distributes maintenance tasks (orders) to the appropriate resources. For the RAS component, a multi-agent resource allocation system (MARAS) is developed to simulate different resource allocation scenarios, accounting for interactions among various agents (decision-makers) in the maintenance process. A case example is presented to demonstrate the essential features of the developed method. The simulation results show that the implementation of MARAS significantly reduces maintenance delays in the case study.
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Acknowledgments
This research was made possible by a scholarship from the “Pierre Arbour Foundation.” We would like to thank for collaboration of Mrs. Firoozeh Sadeghi and Dr. Kobra Khanmohammadi.
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Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 27 • Issue 2 • June 2021
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© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 28, 2020
Accepted: Nov 9, 2020
Published online: Feb 9, 2021
Published in print: Jun 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Jul 9, 2021
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