TPM is
a discipline that has been developing since the beginning of the 1970’s in
Japan. It was a Toyota supplier of automotive electrical parts that laid the
foundation for this new form of an effective, economic and safe maintenance
assurance process. Toyota
immediately adopted these principles and TPM was integrated into their famous
Toyota Production System. Many
companies followed and, at this point, many thousands of Asian companies have
implemented TPM.
After
the Japanese success, many American companies have adopted a TPM implementation
with surprising results. Examples
are Dupont, Motorola, Monsanto, General Electric, Kodak, the United States Postal System
to just mention a few. In just a
couple of years of the
TPM process, the U.S. Post Office became one of the most efficient postal
systems of the world. Today, an
increasing number of mail distributors are the owners of their own working
vehicle. Consequently, the
breakdowns have been reduced 98.75%! This
is similar to countless taxicab companies and the heavy truck transportation
industry. They have also entered
the modality of “associates” instead of employees.
Each of them is responsible for the unit and, in many cases, they are the
owners and are participating in the total business profits of the company.
When
Ford Motor Company, which has gone through so many quality crises in its long
history, acquired Mazda USA, with a high degree of total quality, it was an
opportunity for Ford to extend and reinforce TPM and other systems of Lean
Manufacturing to other Ford plants. Important
advances have now been achieved.
There
are thousands of success stories with TPM, but as with any other discipline,
those stories will not do us any good if we cannot implement it in your factory.
That is the challenge and here we are going to look for solutions to take
that challenge.
TPMonline.com
was founded in 1998, taking advantage of the wonderful resource of the Internet.
Previously, a similar network existed in the SMRP, Society of Maintenance
and Reliability Professionals. In fact, I personally used it in
more than one opportunity to share and to learn.
Nevertheless, someone wanted to increase “control” of the operation
and naturally ruined it.
Readership dropped. Service was not the objective any more.
Remember,
“control” and “power” are the opposites of “progress” and
“well-being”. In that network,
I made contact with other engineers of diverse cities of the U.S., Venezuela,
Canada and many other countries. Some
of them are also active members of the TPMonLine network.
People can learn a lot in the questions and answers groups.
If you put a question there, be sure you have a comfortable chair because
you will receive a good number of useful answers.
To
subscribe to our free network, send a blank email to
TPMonline-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
and become part of our more than 2,000 members.
TPM
is, by definition, an optimal maintenance management system
supported by Autonomous
Maintenance where
each production equipment operator becomes “proprietor” of his/her machine
and takes care of all details that will preserve that machine in the best
possible condition.
Once
autonomous maintenance is implemented, the recurrence to the maintenance
department is minimized. The
operator cleans and lubricates the equipment with the recommended regularity and has the
authority to modify the program according to the real needs and personal
observations. The operator has
access to the manufacturer specifications and the training support of the
maintenance technicians.
One important note: We are not giving people more work or the least important
of maintenance tasks. We really are empowering them to learn more, be
more valuable; and the cleaning and lubrication are
very
important tasks.
The
operators also will be in charge of small adjustments, checking for screws or parts that become
loose and fix them, as well as reporting small details like noises, vibrations,
or temperature raises in the operation of the equipment.
In some plants, we have given the worker spray paint to touch up the
machine so it is kept in “like new” condition.
Gradually, the operator becomes qualified to determine the status of
belts, chains and other elements of the machine’s transmission and can make
small adjustments and repairs. The operator becomes acquainted with hydraulic
systems and then is qualified to find the causes of leaks and their location.
Some operators develop to high level and make some adjustments and can
correct the smaller leaks and defects. In
order to facilitate the service, the number or code of each part must be visible
(belt, chain, seals, filter, bearings, etc.) so that the operator can report to the maintenance
department and indicate the correct part. For
example, “We need a B-46 belt in machine #15.”
This process is explained in our Visual Systems
articles.
When
maintenance is needed, the operator already knows the procedure and is a great
help. In many cases, the procedure
has been simplified i.e., quick removal belt covers, devices with easy release
wing nuts, "hanging" (held by gravity) covers, quick disconnects, etc.
The operator is a key element in these improvements that increase the
maintainability of the machine.
An
important factor in the success of the TPM program is the pride that operators
experience from the optimal shape in which their equipment is preserved.
A great deal of this improved effectiveness comes from the motivation
given to the employees through adequate training and education.
These do not need to be excessive. In
the beginning stage, 3 to 4 hours of education and 2 to 3 hours of training
usually are more than enough. With
some complex pieces of equipment, more time may be necessary. (See our article on
Education and Training.)
As
operators become acquainted with their equipment, the coordinator, supported by
the maintenance technicians, will be giving more instruction to the operators
and giving directions on pertinent safety measures so they keep advancing in
their capacity to intervene in the equipment.
After implementation, the job of the coordinator has just begun.
He/she must maintain a continued flow of communication.
At least once a week, the coordinator listens to new ideas for
improvements and simplification as well as repeating the new disciplines such as
orderliness and cleaning, autonomous inspection, and preventing the new status
from going back to the previous standards.
Remember,
the new management concept consists of a more effective and realistic delegation
of responsibilities (empowerment) and listening with attention to the customer.
In this case, the operator, the proprietor of the machine, is the
customer. Operators know their equipment better than anyone else.
That empowerment or responsibility delegation will be effective and
realistic only after good education and training.
This
“collective participation” gives operators greater satisfaction. That is why they will easily and happily keep doing the new
assignments. According to the
most recent studies of human behavior experts, our maximum potential is shown
when we feel our contribution is important.
Therefore, the importance of good training is that it makes each operator
hold to this new role as an advocate of positive change, which can represent the
difference between failure and success – the disappearance or the survival of
their company. In fact, no one
benefits from a company failure, even if it is one of our competitors.
Remember, that in order for people to acquire our products or services,
they must have money. That is why local, regional, national and worldwide economy
affects us all.
By Implementing TPM we also are achieving Job Security for all.
In the
past, companies worked worse or better depending on the management style of
their leaders. The concept of the
leader hero who knew everything, who solved every problem, unfortunately extends
to some of today’s companies. Nevertheless,
there are significant changes in several aspects.
Three of the most relevant improvements are:
1.
The education of people. Doubtlessly,
today’s workers have a higher level of education than the previous
generations. For that reason, we
see more people with initiative, development and determination as well as
aspirations to progress within the organization.
2.
The easier and faster access to information.
Together with that education, technological advances have caused
communications to be more available to such a degree that today almost nothing
is hidden. People at all levels can
access information at their will. This
helps us to be more conscious of the advances and the new forms of leadership.
3.
The competitiveness. For the
two previous reasons, the disadvantages of competitors so common in the past are
vanishing. Our competitors have
practically the same opportunities that we have. In addition, no longer are we only competing against other
local suppliers but suppliers worldwide. This
series of changes has given origin to new concepts of leadership.
Today, no longer do leaders monopolize the power, the control, the
decisions, or the information. It
is just the opposite. A good leader
today is one who generates a favorable environment so that all the people who
comprise the organization become qualified and participate with their best good
will and open creativity in all processes.
Sharing decisions about equipment, responsibilities, empowerment,
experience recognition, are only a few characteristics of this new managerial
style. The new leader is ready to
listen to all voices. It is without
a doubt a favorable change already rendering abundant fruits. The shared responsibility is the basis of the TPM activity.
AT NO COST
TO YOU you can
support our website when you
visit our sponsors and advertisers
and get valuable information from them.
They make it possible for us to keep this
free service up to date for you.
Thank you!
|
