Total Productive Maintenance (T.P.M)

TPM is a maintenance process developed for improving productivity by making processes more reliable and less wasteful.

Original goal of total productive management:

“Continuously improve all operational conditions, within a production system; by stimulating the daily awareness of all employees” (by Seiichi Nakajima, Japan, JIPM)

TPM focuses primarily on manufacturing (although its benefits are applicable to virtually any "process") and is the first methodology Toyota used to improve its global position (1950s). After TPM, the focus was stretched, and also suppliers and customers were involved (Supply Chain), this next methodology was called lean manufacturing. This sheet gives an overview of TPM in its original form.

An accurate and practical implementation of TPM will increase productivity within the total organization, where:

(1) A clear business culture is designed to continuously improve the efficiency of the total production system
(2) A standardized and systematic approach is used, where all losses are prevented and/or known.
(3) All departments, influencing productivity, will be involved to move from a reactive- to a predictive mindset.
(4) A transparent multidisciplinary organization is reaching zero losses.
(5) Steps are taken as a journey, not as a quick menu.
Finally TPM will provide practical and transparent ingredients to reach operational excellence

CONCEPT OF TPM

           It can be considered as the medical science of machines. Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a maintenance program which involves a newly defined concept for maintaining plants and equipment. The goal of the TPM program is to markedly increase production while, at the same time, increasing employee morale and job satisfaction.

           TPM brings maintenance into focus as a necessary and vitally important part of the business. It is no longer regarded as a non-profit activity. Down time for maintenance is scheduled as a part of the manufacturing day and, in some cases, as an integral part of the manufacturing process. The goal is to hold emergency and unscheduled maintenance to a minimum.

            TPM was introduced to achieve the following objectives. The important ones are listed below.

• Avoid wastage in a quickly changing economic environment.
• Producing goods without reducing product quality.
• Reduce cost.
• Produce a low batch quantity at the earliest possible time.
• Goods send to the customers must be non defective.

SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TQM AND TPM -:

             The TPM program closely resembles the popular Total Quality Management (TQM) program. Many of the tools such as employee empowerment, benchmarking, documentation, etc. used in TQM are used to implement and optimize TPM. Following are the similarities between the two.

            1. Total commitment to the program by upper level management is required in both programs

            2. Employees must be empowered to initiate corrective action, and

            3. A long-range outlook must be accepted as TPM may take a year or more to implement and is an on-going process. Changes in employee mind-set toward their job responsibilities must take place as well.

The differences between TQM and TPM are summarized below.

DIFFERENCE IN TPM & TQM -:

Category	TQM	TPM
Object	Quality (Output and effects)	Equipment (Input and cause)
Mains of attaining goal	Systematize the Management  It is software oriented	Employees participation and it is hardware oriented
Target	Quality for PPM	Elimination of losses and wastes.

HISTORY

             TPM evolved from TQM, which evolved as a direct result of Dr. W. Edwards Deming's influence on Japanese industry. Dr. Deming began his work in Japan shortly after World War II. As a statistician, Dr. Deming initially began to show the Japanese how to use statistical analysis in manufacturing and how to use the resulting data to control quality during manufacturing. The initial statistical procedures and the resulting quality control concepts fueled by the Japanese work ethic soon became a way of life for Japanese industry. This new manufacturing concept eventually became knows as Total Quality Management or TQM.

When the problems of plant maintenance were examined as a part of the TQM program, some of the general concepts did not seem to fit or work well in the maintenance environment. Preventative maintenance (PM) procedures had been in place for some time and PM was practiced in most plants. Using PM techniques, maintenance schedules designed to keep machines operational were developed. However, this technique often resulted in machines being over-serviced in an attempt to improve production. The thought was often "if a little oil is good, a lot should be better." Manufacturer's maintenance schedules had to be followed to the letter with little thought as to the realistic requirements of the machine. There was little or no involvement of the machine operator in the maintenance program and maintenance personnel had little training beyond what was contained in often inadequate maintenance manuals.

The need to go further than just scheduling maintenance in accordance with manufacturer's recommendations as a method of improving productivity and product quality was quickly recognized by those companies who were committed to the TQM programs. To solve this problem and still adhere to the TQM concepts, modifications were made to the original TQM concepts. These modifications elevated maintenance to the status of being an integral part of the overall quality program.

The origin of the term "Total Productive Maintenance" is disputed. Some say that it was first coined by American manufacturers over forty years ago. Others contribute its origin to a maintenance program used in the late 1960's by Nippondenso, a Japanese manufacturer of automotive electrical parts. Seiichi Nakajima, an officer with the Institute of Plant Maintenance in Japan is credited with defining the concepts of TPM and seeing it implemented in hundreds of plants in Japan.

Books and articles on TPM by Mr. Nakajima and other Japanese as well as American authors began appearing in the late 1980's. The first widely attended TPM conference held in the United States occurred in 1990. Today, several consulting companies routinely offer TPM conferences as well as provide consulting and coordination services for companies wishing to start a TPM program in their plants

TARGETS OF TPM 

Ø  Obtain Minimum 90% OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)

Ø  Run the machines even during lunch. (Lunch is for operators and not for machines!)

Ø  Operate in a manner, so that there are no customer complaints.

Ø  Reduce the manufacturing cost by 30%.

Ø  Achieve 100% success in delivering the goods as required by the customer.

Ø  Maintain an accident free environment.

Ø  Increase the suggestions from the workers/employees by 3 times. Develop Multi-skilled and flexible workers.