Mirce Science Philosophy
The development of science started when people began to study phenomena not merely observing them. People developed instruments and learned to trust their readings, rather than to rely on their own perceptions. They recorded the results of their measurements in the form of numbers. Supplied with these numbers they began to seek relationships between them and to write down in the form of formulas. Then the formulas became the only things they came to trust when they began to predict things they could not physically experience.
The philosophy of Mirce science is based on the premise that the purpose of conducting any working process is delivery of work, which is considered to be done when a measurable function is delivered through time. It is quantified by the relevant measures of work done, like: miles travelled, units produced, quantity of energy supplied and similar. However, experience teaches us that at any instant of the working process there is a probability of work being interrupted by occurrence of negative functionability events, resulting from failures of consisting components, natural causes, human actions or their interactions. As every action generates reaction, for the working process to be returned to positive functionability state it is necessary to implement appropriate positive functionability actions, like: completion of required maintenance tasks, change of the mode or location of operation and so forth. Thus, a working process could be considered as the time evolution of functionability compelled by imposing mechanisms (natural or human).
In accordance to Mirce science philosophy, from a functionability point of view, working processes could be in one of the following two states:
- Positive Functionability State (PFS) – work is being done
- Negative Functionability State (NFS) – work is not being done.
The motion of working processes through functionability states is a physical manifestation of the impacts of compelling mechanisms (natural and human actions), which in Mirce science are classified as following:
- Positive Functionability Action (PFA), a generic name for any natural process or human activity that compels a working process type to move to a PFS
- Negative Functionability Action (NFA), a generic name for any natural process or human activity that compels a working process to move to a NFS.
The motion of working process through the functionability states is manifested through the occurrences of functionability events which, according to Mirce science philosophy, are classified as following:
- Positive Functionability Event (PFE), a generic name for any physically observable occurrence that signifies transition from a NFS to a PFS,
- Negative Functionability Event (NFE), a generic name for any physically observable occurrence that signifies the transition from a PFS to a NFS.
Consequently, the functionability performance through time is directly determined by the duration of times that working processes spent in functionability states.
Axioms of MIRCE Science
Axiom 1: A working process starts in the positive functionability state.
Axiom 2: A working process stays in a given functionability state until compelled to change it by any imposed action whatsoever.
Axiom 3: A functionability event is an observable occurrence at which a working process changes a functionability state.
Axiom 4: The probability that a working process moves to a negative functionability state at any instant of time is greater than zero.
Axiom 5: The probability of human error in the execution of any functionability action is greater than zero.
Axiom 6 A working process ends in the negative functionability state.
The pattern generated by the motion of working process through functionability states, forms the functionability trajectory, which is uniquely described by Mirce Functionability Equation.
MIRCE Functionability Equation
This multidimensional set of convolution integrals defines the motion of a working system through MIRCE Space, depicting and passing through each sequential functionability state in the direction of calendar time, generating a trajectory unique to each working system. Thus, the same set of generic equations, when applied to different operational and maintenance management actions generate different trajectories of the motion through MIRCE Space, which means different functionability performance, namely different work done and different resources consumed. Hence, Knezevic (2017) has created a generic platform on which each feasible set of operation and maintenance management actions would generate its own future “trajectory” for a working system under consideration.
According to the MIRCE Science a working system is delivering expected work while it is PFS. The probability of the working system being in PFS, at any instant of its in-service life, is determined by MIRCE Functionability Equation, defined as Knezevic in 2014.