From the Origins of Maintenance to The Total Productive Maintenance Concept

Enrique Mora

Background  

The first manifestations of the maintenance activity and their evolution until arriving at the philosophy of TPM or Total Productive Maintenance.

At the beginning of industrial activity, maintenance was considered a necessary evil.  Companies did not give much importance to it.  It was not considered an integral part of the productive process and management support was at a minimum.  Only corrective maintenance was practiced, frequently with the minimum of resources possible.  After awhile, the equipment was degraded, losing a high percentage of the original potential. Sometimes very ingenious repairs were made.

Other repairs were very badly done with patches, counterbalances, improvised spare parts, moorings of wire or cord, poles and other devices.  This was common in the industrial atmosphere of the first decades of the 20^th century.  This was the trend especially in some Latin American and other under-developed countries, due to the economic limitations and helped by their creativity.  Great admiration was given to the “maestro” who found a way to replace such-and-such piece by something more resistant to breakage (although perhaps eliminating the original safety intention).  This creativity, in many cases, also compromised the original design features and characteristics.  

The postwar period after the middle of the 1940’s, brought a new atmosphere of greater competition associated with the industrial revolution.  Corrective or Rupture Maintenance takes better control, now using original replacements, although almost always productive time is lost whenever the need arises to make a repair.  A disadvantage of this concept of maintenance as a minimum defect is overlooked until it becomes a major/high-cost breakdown; when the minimum defect could have been repaired at a much smaller cost.  

With losses in mind, a new idea of "Preventative" (later simplified to Preventive) Maintenance (PM) starts in the 1950’s.  Based on the lifespan of the parts and components, as well as the recommendations of some equipment manufacturers, it contributes to reduce productivity losses.  In 1963, this technique comes to America, and Ford Motor Company becomes one of the first companies to implement PM.  Preventive Maintenance has the advantage of reducing failure-stoppages of equipment.  Its disadvantages are that it is more expensive in terms of so many replaced parts that could have lasted more months and even years, and the countless labor used in inspecting equipment to prevent failure.  However, there is no doubt that PM was an important advancement.  

A transition stage develops a new perspective which later becomes TPM.  This transitory stage was called Productive Maintenance.  It was centered on an increase of the responsibilities of the once undervalued Maintenance Department. 

The “Plant Engineering” Concept 
Is Set In Place

The maintenance people now have a say in the plant layout and other issues relating to maintenance improvement and safety; they even can have an opinion on what equipment will be bought!  There is a new trend to better planning in expansions and/or new construction projects.  This new scheme allows for better choices of equipment and the areas to install it.  The concepts of “lay-out” or physical location to optimize the distribution are enhanced.  Industrial engineering participates with time and movement studies.  The scheduled provision of raw materials is systemized in the assembly lines (production control).  All of these concepts optimize the operations.  

Related Article Just in Time 

Other changes appear.  There is a strong loop of communication between the people in charge of production and people in maintenance established, obtaining considerable improvements because both tasks are now considered equally important.  Concepts of Manufacturing Engineering bring the need for the design of new tools.  Process Engineering takes its place as part of the same modernizing movement.  

At the beginning these concepts would take several years traveling from one country or region to another.  Suddenly, with technological advances in communications, accelerated globalization of the markets, Free Trade Agreements and the general opening to external markets, we are competing against the greatest worldwide powers.  This is the Information Explosion.  The old delays are now memories of the past.  Information flows at the speed of light.  Powerful computers are within the reach of everyone today.  We find out the news at the same moment it is happening.  No longer will big surprises happen as that of the U.S. automobile industries when the Japanese decided to invade the American markets in the 1970’s with cheaper and better cars.  The U.S. automobile makers have not totally assimilated it and still today the Japanese keep increasing their participation in the market.  

Everyday there are new advances and those who do not take care of being up-to-date not only ignore them, they lose opportunities.  We are in a faster, continuous change than ever before.  Remember this proven concept: Every five years, an advance of equal magnitude to the one of the previous 50 years is achieved.  This is the moment for all of us to initiate continuous learning if we want to survive in this new millennium.  Our attitudes must adjust to this reality for us to survive.  

What do we need to learn?  Worldwide strategies such as:

Total Quality Manufacturing

Just in Time

Total Productive Maintenance

And what is there after TPM?  More TPM.  The advantage of these strategies is:  They have in themselves an integrated formula against aging or obsolescence.  They are constantly self-renewing.    

TPM is not a regulated, established, or tight system.  On the contrary, it is a continually improving process implemented by common sense and the creativity of human beings.  Welcome then to the optimal maintenance and productivity system for the present and the future.   

There are numbers obtained from the implementation of TPM and will, for sure, give great credence for companies to participate in the TPM philosophy.  Terry Wireman, an acknowledged researcher, quotes some encouraging statistics in his book, “TPM, an American Approach”.   

Productivity                           

»      Increases of 100 to 200 %

»      Ranks of operation increased from 50 to 100%

»      Down times by damaged equipment reduced up to 97%

Quality

»      Reduction of defects > 99%

»      50% less claims from customers  

Costs

»      50% direct work reduction

»      30% reduction in maintenance costs

»      30% reduction in energy consumption

Inventories

»      50% reduction in inventory levels

»      100% increase in recycled inventory

Safety

»      Total elimination of environmental and safety infractions

»      Remarkable reduction of risky conditions

Morale

»      200% increase in the flow of suggestions and proposals

» Generalized increase of employee participation in group meetings

With all these benefits, it’s natural to get good support from industry managers to participate in this new system.  There is no doubt TPM is a great value for the development of companies in the new millennium.  

TPM books  

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