TPM - Productivity Improvement Basics

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM ) TPM in three Words:- Total = All individuals in the organization working together. Productive =Production of goods that meet or exceed customer’s expectations. Maintenance = keeping equipment and plant in good condition at all times. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a maintenance philosophy that requires the total participation of the work force. TPM can certainly improve productivity by a great extent and can bring the ownership within the organization. It was first developed and implemented in Japan. TPM incorporates the skills and availability of all employees to focus on improving the overall effectiveness of a facility. Effectiveness is improved by eliminating the wastage of time and resources. Typically, TPM is a concept that is most easily applied to a manufacturing facility. Some of the benefits of TPM are • It reduces the total life-cycle costs of equipment. • It simply reminds us that every time a machine fails, something could have been done to prevent it. • Gradually the operator’s become maintainers. • Gradually the maintainers become improvers. • It develops the five senses, as well as technical skills. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is an approach aimed at creating a production environment free from mechanical breakdowns and technical disruptions. It achieves this by the introduction of systemised methods to improve the mechanical and human aspects of production in order to maximise equipment effectiveness. One of the key concepts of TPM is that the maintenance of production is not the sole responsibility of the maintenance department, but requires a fully cross-functional approach. Many organisations still have the philosophy ‘I run it, you fix it,’ or ‘I'm manufacturing, you're maintenance.’ The older the company, the more deeply rooted this mind-set generally is and the more difficult it is to change. In world-class plants the operator becomes the asset owner, the focus for routine maintenance and the central figure in overall equipment effectiveness. Total Productive Maintenance program requires a schedule of activities in order to ensure that gains are sustainable in the long run. The following are the bare minimum requirements for the successful implementation of a TPM program: Top Management decision to begin program and provide the necessary resources Establishment of cross-functional teams which draws its members from across the value stream. This mixing of team members from many departments makes cooperation easier during the normal operations as members get to have broader understanding of each other's work Defining targets narrows the scope of the program and gives team members a way of knowing the progress of their efforts Drawing master plan for the program gives a clear road map of the direction the organisation should take There are 8 pillars of TPM and these are built on the foundation of 5S Jishu Hozen: Autonomous Maintenance Focussed Improvement Planned Maintenance Training & Education Early Management Quality Maintenance Safety, Health & Environment TPM in the Office The 5S Foundation The goal of 5S is to create a work environment that is clean and well-organized. It consists of five elements: Sort (eliminate anything that is not truly needed in the work area) Set in Order (organize the remaining items) Shine (clean and inspect the work area) Standardize (create standards for performing the above three activities) Sustain (ensure the standards are regularly applied) TPM emphasizes all aspects of production. As such it seeks to incorporate maintenance into the everyday performance of a facility. To do this the maintenance performance is one factor that is considered when evaluating the performance of the facility. One of the most important measurements of TPM is Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). It is a measure of availability, performance efficiency and quality rate. As such, equipment stoppages, equipment working at less than peak capacity, and equipment producing poor quality products are all penalized when the OEE is determined. OEE = availability * performance efficiency * quality rate Total Maintenance System:- TPM requires a focus on the total maintenance system, from equipment design to asset maintenance strategies. Equipment should be designed to be maintenance free, as far as this is possible. Improvements in maintenance techniques should be pursued wherever this is possible. Preventative and predictive maintenance strategies should be implemented to eliminate reactive maintenance. The objective of TPM is to bringing productivity by engaging and involving everyone and by providing structured way of doing things to identify and then prioritize and eliminate the causes of the losses. This is eventually done by self-managing teams and by creating the continuous improvement culture. Employing consultants to create this culture is common practice.