How TPM works

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is usually not a process that is put into place by itself. Manufacturing businesses that have implemented Total Productive Maintenance often do this as a part of an overall program of other manufacturing improvement procedures such as Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing and Quick Response Manufacturing. Total Productive Maintenance is a series of initiatives and employee training, that is characterized by a "can do" attitude of employee/operator empowerment. Companies find that when TPM is correctly used, they have begun a process that allows for maintenance (which is a large and costly part of manufacturing), to become a more cost and time efficient business process.

When businesses want to evaluate the relative success of their TPM procedures they often use a set of measures that are called Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). The overall equipment effectiveness is a series of metrics. These metrics can be used to measure the utilization, of a manufacturing operation, or piece of equipment.In addition these metrics can be used daily, to identify how equipment is performing, but also can be used as a goal that a company wishes to achieve. Generally, when a business looks at equipment effectiveness, there are six areas where waste can occur. These are areas where TPM looks to control and streamline. These areas are:

• Setup and Adjustments-Equipment downtime can occur when machines are broken down at the end of production run, and new tools are setup for the next production run. It is important to remember that although this downtime is usually included in the production schedule, any additional time required in the setup due to adjustments, may not be included, and this can delay the production schedule.


• Equipment Failures-These are classified as unexpected failures that occur without warning, and cause production to be halted. This problem can seriously affect the production schedule, and customer deliveries. If the failure cannot be remedied quickly, a new piece of equipment may need to be purchased. This can cause financial hardship, to a small or medium sized company.


• Scrap and Rework-One of the major problems in manufacturing is if a machine is not operating at its optimum level, it can produce items that are below the acceptable quality standard, and will need to be scrapped or reworked. This can significantly affect the production schedule and customer delivery dates, and be a huge waste of time and resources.


• Idling-Because a production schedule expects equipment to run at its optimum speed, if a machine has its speed reduced, for minor issues that can be corrected by the machine's operator, production can be optimized. It is crucial for an operator to realize when a machine is operating below its optimum level, as it can have a detrimental effect on the production schedule.


• Startup Losses-When equipment is setup there can be some issues with the initial items that are produced. It is important to keep in mind that although this setup loss may be included in the production schedule, it does mean a loss of time and resources that could be minimized.


• Reduced Speed Operation-While the speed of a piece of equipment is defined by the manufacturer and companies expect that the documented speed is the speed that the machine will operate at, but this may not always be the case. However, unless a company actually calibrates the equipment, and verifies that it is operating at the manufacturer's specification then there is a possibility that the machine is operating below standard.

When businesses correctly and effectively implement Total Productive Maintenance, these problems can be greatly reduced and in some cases even eliminated. Successfully using Total Productive Maintenance can help any business insure its position for a long and profitable future.