TPM - Total Productive Maintenance

What is Total productive maintenance?

Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a system of maintaining and improving the integrity of production, safety and quality systems through the machines, equipment, processes, and employees that add business value to an organization.

The goal of TPM is the continuous improvement of equipment effectiveness through engaging those that impact on it in small group improvement activities. Total quality management (TQM) and total productive maintenance (TPM) are considered as the key operational activities of the quality management system.

The main objective of TPM is to increase the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) of plant equipment. TPM addresses the causes for accelerated deterioration while creating the correct environment between operators and equipment to create ownership.

The TPM Pillars  

TPM aims to increase productivity, efficiency and safety by empowering operators and team leaders to play a proactive role in day-to-day maintenance activities, such as lubrication, inspection and cleaning. The TPM pillars are: 

  • Autonomous Maintenance — Operators monitor the condition of their own equipment and work areas. 
  • Process and Machine Improvement — Team leaders collect information from operators and work areas, and then prioritize preventive maintenance and improvements. 
  • Preventive Maintenance — Operators and team leaders share preventive maintenance tasks and schedules. 
  • Early Management of New Equipment — Team leaders anticipate and plan for parts of equipment life cycles and report to mangers based on maintenance reports. 
  • Process Quality Management — Shared responsibility for operation and maintenance encourages quality improvement ideas from all areas of work. 
  • Administrative Work — Managers prioritize data from the previous pillars and share outcomes with team leaders and work areas. 
  • Education and Training — Continuous improvement includes operator and work area education and training, which improve morale, retention and efficiency. 
  • Safety and Sustained Success — Facility-wide safety is prioritized, which positively impacts sustained success of the TPM program. 

 

What are the advantages of TPM?  

The three goals of TPM are zero unplanned failures (no small stops or slow running), zero product defects and zero accidents. When properly implemented it can bring important benefits: 

  • TPM is built on the 5-S foundation, which creates effective workplace organization and standardized procedures to improve safety, quality, productivity and employee attitudes. 
  • TPM assigns the responsibility for preventive and routine maintenance to the same people who operate that individual equipment. This puts the people most familiar with the machine in charge of its care. 
  • TPM brings maintenance into focus as a vital part of business. Maintenance downtime is included in manufacturing scheduling, and in many cases, becomes an integral part of the manufacturing process.

Learn more about

Reliability Maintenance Management

learn more