TPM Reloaded. Joel Levitt
How disciplined is your production effort?
Although not every company needs full TPM implementation, every company has something to learn from it.
* Manufacturer of auto parts and part of the Toyota group of companies. Was established December 16, 1949 as Nippondenso Co., and subsequently renamed DENSO. As of March 31, 2005, DENSO Corporation consisted of 171 subsidiaries (64 in Japan, 33 in the Americas, 31 in Europe, and 43 in Asia/Oceania) with a total of 104,183 employees. In 2006, DENSO was listed at #207 on the Fortune 500 list.
Total
Before we can really talk about TPM, we have to define and dissect the words. The word total means we, as an organization, are all in. If this was referring to a sport, it would suggest we are going to play full out. One of the dictionary.com definitions says, “involving all aspects, elements, participants, resources, etc.; unqualified; all-out: total war.” We are in total war against deterioration and anything else that detracts from the output.
Another definition is “constituting or comprising the whole; entire; whole: the total expenditure. Of or pertaining to the whole of something....” This means that the whole organization has to align itself to support the TPM process, products, and activities.
The last definition is how deep do we go? The answer is “complete in extent or degree; absolute; unqualified.” We are all in to make TPM work.
Productive
If we are productive, we “have the power of producing; generative; creative: a productive effort.” The TPM effort is producing more output with the same or fewer inputs. So we are generating something. The second definition is important for our understanding. Productive is “causing; bringing about.” This effort will bring about some important changes.
Maintenance
Finally we have the word maintenance. Maintenance activities mean activities that are designed to keep an asset in good condition and not let deteriorate in the first place. If we maintain our weight, it means that we kept our weight the same. Many people think that maintenance is a fancy word for repair or fix. Nothing could be further from the truth — maintenance is activity that avoids the need to repair. If repair is necessary, then maintenance has not been present.
Because the scope of TPM is well beyond the concept of maintenance, we might want to call the effort something more accurate like Total Output Management. But I can leave the naming of your program up to you.
Although TPM, in its entirety, doesn’t apply in many situations, aspects do apply to all maintenance situations.
A Day in the Life of a TPM Shop
At the U.S. Mint, Jim Dunn (a composite person, not a real operator) walks into the coining shop, where he has worked for the last 11 years, to start his shift. At the beginning of every shift he takes a few minutes, starting at one end of the line of his presses, to clean, check the lubricant level and listen to each press. The routine is designed so that there is minimum interruption of the press. If a tool change is imminent, he will do his inspection during that period. He will also time his service to coincide with the end of each batch of material.
He can hear the pitch of the high-speed presses. From his experience he knows that press #1 is running slow and 2, 3, 4 and 5 are right on the money (so to speak). He verifies his hunch by looking at the LCD readout on the Press Control Center. Presses are slowed down sometimes to reduce the number of problems.
Jim knows from his TPM training that “running slower than specification” is one of the losses that it is his job to track down. Making sure all the presses are running correctly, he calls the TPM coordinator for the coining department. They discuss the slowdown and decide to run the press at full speed and watch it closely.
After three hours of perfect operation, the blank feeder jams up. Jim calls the TPM coordinator and they agree to look into the problem. The problem is cleared and the machine is turned back down until the next day, when the team can meet and take a look. Jim calls the floor supervisor and tells him that Press #1 will be out of service the next day for a few hours.
Jim comes in the next day and goes through TLC (Tender Loving Care which translates to Tighten, Lubricate, Clean) on his other presses. A relief operator is assigned to the other presses while the TPM team looks at Press #1. Step one is a thorough hands-on cleaning and inspection. The feeder is looked at very closely.
It becomes clear that the feed fingers have been messed up and are slightly bent. The feeder tube also has some irregularities, and five bolts are loose. These problems are cleared up; then the machine is run up to full speed. The press is stable for the remainder of the shift. Jim tells the second shift operator to keep an eye on Press #1, and reminds her to clean up coffee cups left inside the sound enclosures.
Jim goes home feeling that he made a little, but real, contribution to the organization that day.
Promises Made at a Recent TPM Conference
As discussed previously, oil refining is not a natural home for TPM. Nevertheless, the adoption of certain precepts will make significant improvement possible. The following precepts were developed recently at a TPM conference for oil refiners in the Persian Gulf:
• Manufacturing equipment uptime: up 40%
• Unexpected equipment breakdowns: down 99%
• Equipment speed: up 10%
• Defects caused by equipment: down 90%
• Equipment output (productivity): up 50%
• Maintenance costs: down 30%
• Return on investment: increased several hundred %
• Safety: approaching zero accidents
• Improved job satisfaction
Other TPM targets included:
• Obtain minimum 80% OPE (Overall Plant Effectiveness).
• Obtain minimum 90% OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness).
• Run the machines even during lunch. (Lunch is for operators and not for machines.)
• Operate in a manner so that there are no customer complaints.
• Reduce the manufacturing cost by 30%.
• Achieve 100% success in delivering the goods as required by the customer.
• Maintain an accident-free environment.
• Increase the suggestions from operators by 3 times*.
• Develop multi-skilled and flexible workers.
Improvement in the Delivery of Maintenance Service
For one second, let’s examine TPM and delivery of maintenance service. It is argued by TPM professionals that much of the pure labor benefits flow from the simple fact that the operators are already in front of the machine with the tools and materials whereas the maintenance personnel have to travel. That is true, but not the whole story. TPM is one of the most effective methods of improving the delivery of maintenance service, largely eliminating the