Andrew Jardine

Dr. Andrew K.S. Jardine, PhD, CEng, MIMechE, MIET, PEng, FCAE, FIIE, FEIC, FISEAM (Hon), is the Founding Director of the Centre for Maintenance Optimization and Reliability Engineering (C-MORE) at the University of Toronto. C-MORE’s research is driven by close interactions with industry, in particular with C-MORE consortium members and with researchers at universities around the world.

Besides writing, researching and teaching, Dr. Jardine has carried out innumerable consulting assignments with organizations around the world, including mines, government agencies, power and transit companies, and scores of others. His cutting-edge research is noted for its applied focus.

You can view Professor Jardine’s publications on Google Scholar.

Read Professor Jardine’s CV

Photo Credit: Christopher Wahl

About Centre for Maintenance Optimization and Reliability Engineering (C-MORE)

Innovative Research

In 2014, the Centre for Maintenance Optimization and Reliability Engineering (C-MORE) celebrated its 20th anniversary. The Centre was founded in 1994 at the University of Toronto by Professor Andrew Jardine, with the help of the Manufacturing Research Corporation of Ontario (MRCO). Its goal was to advance Professor Jardine’s groundbreaking theoretical work on condition-based maintenance (CBM) optimization. His vision included a dedicated research centre involving industry, faculty, researchers, and graduate students. The driving idea behind the initial Consortium, which evolved into the Centre for Maintenance Optimization and Reliability Engineering (C-MORE) in 2007, was the need to develop a mathematical model to arrive at equipment replacement decision indicators that were more accurate than those derived by relying either on the age of equipment or its current condition. Professor Jardine approached MRCO, working with Joe Brennan to get the financial support of NSERC and find industry partners. The idea immediately took off; MRCO and NSERC came on board, along with a number of industry partners.

C-MORE Team

At the inaugural meeting on December 1, 1994, industry was represented by new partners Alcoa, American Barrick, Molson Breweries, Dofasco Inc., Oliver Interactive Inc., and Wear Check Canada Inc. For its part, the CBM lab had opened for business with three researchers working under Professor Jardine: Dragan Banjevic, Project Director, Marguerite Ennis, Statistician, and Dusan Braticevic, Research Programmer. In addition to Professor Viliam Makis, another main member of the team, there were seven graduate students and an administrator. They never looked back. By 1998, the lab had produced its EXAKT software, now commercially available; the software indicates the optimal time to renew, repair, or replace equipment subject to condition monitoring.

Solutions-based Results

For 20 years, the CBM lab / C-MORE expanded and evolved, using combined industry and NSERC funding to perform valuable research in asset management in condition-based maintenance, spares management, maintenance and repair contracts, and failure-finding intervals for protective devices. Making smart management decisions is key to an industry’s financial success. Simply stated, C-MORE’s goal in working with some of the world’s leading asset-intensive industries such as utilities, mining, and the military is to take advantage of their existing data to make good evidence-based management decisions. More recent Consortium members who have funded the Centre and profited from its research include ENMAX, Greater Toronto Airports Authority, Hydro One, Manitoba Hydro, Ministry of Defence UK, Ontario Clean Water Agency, Ontario Power Generation, Teck Resources, and Toronto Hydro.

Research Interests

For more information on Andrew Jardine’s research, see his curriculum vitae or Google Scholar, and for information about current and former research students, see the C-MORE website.

Using Data Wisely

Making smart management decisions is crucial for the ongoing success of any company and even more critical for companies with large, expensive assets. Professor Andrew Jardine has spent more than 20 years helping large asset-intensive companies use their own data wisely, in his capacity as Founding Director of C-MORE, as a private consultant, as an invited speaker at conferences, and in courses specifically designed for the managers of large assets.

Designing Strategies

Stripped to the basics, Professor Jardine’s work deals with four key decision areas in maintenance management: lifecycle costing decisions, maintenance tactics, inspection policies, and resource requirements. Cutting-edge research includes: risk and economic consequences of failure, spares management software, component preventive replacement and fleet replacement decisions, demand for spare parts, plant machinery and equipment replacement decisions.

Real Knowledge

The expert knowledge derived from Professor Jardine’s research is directly applicable to real-world industries, and he has personally worked with companies worldwide, ranging from mining, to transportation (including air), oil and gas, pulp and paper, electrical power, and the military (UK and Canada). All have been able to maximize their maintenance management, with a resulting financial impact potentially saving them millions of dollars.