Total Productive Maintenance is a comprehensive manufacturing improvement program focused on improving the effectiveness of plant equipment through increasing equipment availability, avoiding breakdowns, reducing operating delays, and enhancing output quality with the ultimate goal of accomplishing production with zero defects.
While the benefits might sound appealing, implementing Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program is very challenging. Here are 7 essential steps to implement a TPM program and a few factors to ensure successful implementation.
7 steps to implement TPM Program
- Identify areas of loss: Before you can implement a TPM strategy, you need to assess the factory’s current standings to determine weaknesses. This can be measured with a TPM index known as Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
- Form a plan of attack: Once you know what your biggest areas for improvement are, you can determine the best course of action. Determine which tasks should take priority, set up a timetable to complete projects, and assign champions for each area. When doing this, it’s important to establish a team consisting of factory workers, management and higher-ups in order to gain the functional insights necessary to avoid costly mistakes, and ensure project success.
- Get everyone on the same page: To get the TPM ball rolling, all employees need to be on the same page in regard to the strategy. This creates transparency that makes it easy for all involved to better understand the value and importance of the initiative.
- Repair and improve equipment: When you roll out TPM, equipment must be in order. Whether this means replacing worn parts and repairing broken parts or calibrating functional equipment and ensuring it is producing high-quality products, it’s important to start with a clean slate.
- Create a maintenance schedule: Once equipment is running smoothly, maintaining quality is essential for TPM success. Preventative maintenance is key.
- Train employees on their equipment: Ensure that factory workers know how to properly operate their machines in order to prevent breakdowns and ensure optimal output. Be certain that operators are familiar with the maintenance schedule and know how to recognize red-flags with the machinery they use.
- Regularly review the TPM strategy: For TPM to continue to be successful, it’s important to check the plan and make any adjustments necessary depending on the current factory standings.
Factors that ensure the success of TPM
- Securing top management support and allocating adequate resources to the project.
if top management fully supports the implementation, then sufficient resources will be assigned to the project. Resources for TPM should include some to the best people in the organization and should be attached to the project team on a full-time basis.
- Developing a comprehensive project plan and obtaining buy-in. The program should illustrate schedules, resource requirements, and projected benefits.
- Developing a lean culture across the organization. Before beginning a TPM program the organization should embrace the culture of lean improvement. Employees should be engaged in a continuous process of applying lean techniques to eliminate waste, increase quality, and maintain high levels of safety.
- Providing TPM training to all personnel. Training should take place early in the project’s lifecycle. All employees should be exposed to both the TPM methodology as well as essential lean techniques.
Productivity and Quality Office
