TPM – Total Productive Maintenance
Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is the concept of using equipment, machines, and employees for maintenance to improve the quality and integrity of the production. The main idea behind TPM is that everyone should participate in the maintenance and not just the maintenance team.
The usage of Total Productive Maintenance has been growing for many reasons. First, it’s the physical assent management to improve the manufacturing machinery. Second, the main goal is to increase efficiency and decrease the overall cost.
The JPIM (Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance) expanded it to 8 pillars based on 5-S.
Goals of TPM
There are various goals of TPM. First, it removes the mindset of “If the machine is working fine, one shouldn’t touch it. We will fix it if something goes wrong”.
Here are some of the main goals or benefits of TPM.
- No to fewer breakdowns
- Safer environment and workspace
- Faster speed
- No to fewer defects or accidents
- Better performance
5-S Method – The Basis for TPM
The primary 5-S consists of the components sort, systematic, shine, standardize and sustain:
- Seriri stands for Sort: The goal is to organize the workspace.
- Seiton stands for Systematic: Orderliness is extremely important. It is about ensuring that all things are in the proper and defined place.
- Seiso stands for Shine: Cleanliness is vital for the workplace. The place should be clean along with the machines.
- Seiketsu stands for Standardized: Labeling all the things will make the work faster. It also includes creating new processes and strategies. Finally, the idea is to standardize all the work processes.
- Shitsuke stands for Sustain: Consistency is the key to success. Therefore, Shitsuke means that one has to reinforce all the above steps and keep doing them.
These are the 5-S of the TPM. Based on this, the eight pillars are formed.
The 8 Pillars – Techniques to achieve TPM
The eight pillars are the techniques one must use to achieve TPM. It consists of the following pillars:
#1 Autonomous Maintenance
The first pillar aims to have the essential automated maintenance where it’s needed. It includes cleaning, lubricating and also consists of the primary inspection of the machines. The idea is to fully train the operators to do all these tasks and make essential maintenance mandatory.
#2 Planned Maintenance
The idea here is to have scheduled maintenance regularly depending on the usage, failure rate, etc. The risk of unplanned or accidental failure is reduced by scheduling maintenance. Thus, it helps to save time as well as money.
#3 Quality Maintenance
It’s all about implementing the root cause analysis correctly. It will remove all the recurring design errors and detect them to make the system better. It focuses on removing the root cause of any defects or errors.
#4 Focused Improvement
Focused improvement in teamwork where there are small groups made. Each group works together to achieve incremental improvement. It helps to identify and remove the recurring problems.
#5 Early Equipment Management
Here, the TPM model is used to improve the design of the new equipment. That way, ensuring that new equipment has a minimum amount of problems. In addition, the employees will have practical knowledge before the installation.
#6 Training and Education
The idea of the 6th pillar is to share the knowledge of TPM with the employees and team. It includes all of them, such as maintenance personnel, managers, and operators. All of them should have complete knowledge about Total Productive Maintenance.
#7 Safety, Health, and Environment
The next pillar is all about maintaining a safe environment for all the team members. TPM eliminates accidents and maintains a safe, healthy environment. One can host special workshops for training.
#8 TPM in Administrator
The 8th pillar implies that TPM should also be added to the administrator’s purpose and not just operational. Administrator purposes include order processing, procurement, etc. Therefore, applying TPM to administration will bring drastic improvement inefficiency. Also, the managers will have complete knowledge about the TPM.
Tracking the OEE
When you are serious about implementing TPM, you should surely take care of the OEE. OEE stands for Overall Equipment Effectiveness and supports TPM. It tracks the productive time of the production. It shows whether the planned production was truly effective all the time.
OEE takes Availability Loss, Performance Loss, and Quality Loss into consideration and gives a percentage value. Therefore, one should closely track OEE after implementing the TPM model in the plant. It will provide a better idea of what needs to be done and how much room is there for improvement. Learn more about the OEE in our blog.