by: Aniruddha Bhargava, Rama Shankar Bhargava
with notes from Nand Kishore

The Indian Industry is facing a severe global competition and hence many companies are finding it very difficult to meet the bottom line. 

The past decade has transformed the definition of Market Price, which was based on simple assumption under the monopolistic condition as given below: 

Production cost + Profit = Market price

 However, under the present scenario where all are facing the domestic/global competition, the above definition does not hold good & simply got transformed into: 

Market prices - Production Cost = Profit 

Although the above two equations mathematically look to be the same, the difference is obvious as in the present scenario. The customer who has become quite demanding with respect to cost, quality & variety determines the market price.  The current economic environment automatically brings tremendous pressure on optimizing the Production cost & for survival of the unit also. 

TPM meets the challenge & provides an effective program in terms of increased plant efficiency & productivity. 

TPM is a means of creating a safe & participative work environment, in which all employees target the elimination of all kinds of waste generated due to equipment failure, frequent breakdowns, defective products including rejections & rework. This leads to higher employee morale and greater organizational profitability. 

TPM implementation is not a difficult task. However, it requires:  

1.      Total commitment to the program by Top Management as it has to be TOP DRIVEN to succeed.

2.      Total involvement & participation of all the employees.

3.      Attitudinal changes & paradigm shift towards job responsibilities. 

Steps involved in effective implementation of
TPM are given briefly as follows: 

1.      Appoint a committed & responsible coordinator who is well-versed in TPM concept & able to convince the entire work force through an educational program. 

2.      Select a Model Cell or a Machine, which has the maximum potential for improvement in respect of optimizing the profits. Such a model cell or machine will have the maximum problems in respect of 

·        Product quality

·        Equipment failure & frequent breakdowns

·        Unsafe conditions causing safety hazards

3.      The TPM coordinator will head a small team comprising of the concerned persons of selected model cell or machine & would initiate the TPM program by first recording meticulously & observing fullest transparency of the problematic areas in respect of product defects, equipment breakdown data & number of accidents from the past data, if available. However, if the reliable data is not available, the same will have to be built up for the purpose of ‘benchmarking’ & keeping the records of progress & scheduling the improvements (target) within the time period. 

4.      The TPM coordinator would encourage the Team member to initiate the TPM through Initial Cleaning of the machines taken as a Model for improvement. Initial Cleaning is done to remove ‘shortcomings’ or defects developed over the years, which have remained unnoticed. 

5.      Initial Cleaning activities include removing dust, dirt, fluff etc. Through this process, improper conditions of the machine get detected in the form of: 

•       Inaccuracies leading to defects in regard to quality

•       Defective parts/components leading to the development of defects in the machine

•       Detection of excessive wear & tear in the moving parts of the machine leading to production of defective parts.

•       Motion resistance observed due to foreign matters found in moving parts of the machine.

•       Detection of defects like loose fasteners, scratches, deformation & leakage etc., remaining invisible in dirty equipment.

The initial cleaning leads to Inspection which in turn helps in detecting the ABNORMALITIES in the equipment gathered over the years causing quality defects, equipment failures, & safety hazards. 

The Action Teams would be responsible to ascertain the problem areas, determining the sources of generation of abnormalities& those causing forced deterioration. Through deliberation of various techniques the team would detail out a course of corrective action and implementing the corrective process. It is quite possible that in the beginning recognizing problem areas & determining the counter measures eliminating the sources of error, the team members may not find easy. They have to continue their thinking creatively that things could be done better. 

The writer has a rich & successful experience of implementing the TPM systems in an Automobile Company & Pressure Die-Casting company. The successful implementation has brought very encouraging results, which are summarized as below. 

Pressure die casting Company:  

For this company one 660 T HMT m/c was selected for developing it as a Model Cell. The m/c was studied & evaluated critically in depth by the team. The team decided to set first objective as to achieve ‘ Delightful Working Environment ’which is a pre-requisite to the introduction of practices of TPM. 

The team identified 14 cause factors responsible for the present condition of the m/c & coming in the way of achieving the ‘DWE’, the first objective. 

These cause factors were analyzed & improvement themes were developed such as counter measures to dust & dirt, difficult to clean & non accessible areas, counter measures to leakages, flash & water spray, die coat spray etc. Implementation of solutions resulted into the following major achievements: 

•       Delightful working environment

•       Productivity improvement by 20%

•       Metal saving through elimination of flash & coil formation during each stroke.

Similar achievements resulted in the Automobile Company also in the form of 

• Breakdown reduction

• Defects reduction

• Space saving

• Productivity improvement

To make these achievements sustainable a very important aspect of TPM is the establishment of Autonomous Maintenance.  The purpose of autonomous inspection is to teach operators how to maintain their equipment by performing daily the following in not more than 15 minutes & thus developing an ‘ownership of the machine’:

• Daily checks

• Lubrication management

• Tightening & checking schedule of fasteners

• Cleaning schedule

Ø    Early detection of abnormal condition of the machine through sound, temperature & vibration.

In the current Industrial scenario, TPM may be one of the only concepts that stand between success and total failure for some organizations. It is a program that works if it is implemented effectively with all sincerity & dedicated efforts of participative team.

PLEASE SEE UPDATES BELOW...

To: mickey@pn2.vsnl.net.in

Cc: plantmaint@plant-maintenance.com ; tpmonline@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 12:03 PM
Subject: Article on TPM in India
For attention: Mr. Aniruddha Bhargava/Mr. Rama Shankar Bhargava.

Let me congratulate you first for the interesting article regarding TPM in India. I do have some few questions and would be happy to have you respond:

1. Was it only a pilot project or extended to the whole company subsequently? The results given were for a typical machine only.Which are the other machines included?

2. How much was the time required for this one machine only? When was it concluded that the TPM objectives have been met for this machine?

3. How much effect this had on the saving in Maintenance time?

4. In which automobile company was this study extended? What are the results in so far as saving in productivity, maintenance downtime etc . How much time has it taken?

I would be interested to continue a dialogue with you, being interested in the area of TPM.

With best wishes,

N.K.Agarwal, India.

From:  "Aniruddha Bhargava" <mickey@pn2.vsnl.net.in>
Date:  Sat Nov 9, 2002  8:43 am
Subject:  Re: Article on TPM in india

Dear Mr. Nand Kishore, 

Thankyou very much for the interest shown in the article published by Mora Consultants on www.tpmonline.com 

TPM implementation was done at two units namely 

1.    Anurang Engg., Pune

       Pressure Die Casting  Vendor- Bajaj Auto Ltd., PUNE

At Anurang Engg., only Pilot Project was taken on 660 T HMT m/c

Time taken:    2 months - 14 visits were made

Constraint :     Mind set 

"Being a PDC foundry Machine Surroundings & Floor can not remain clean as it involves working constantly with water, Aluminium flash. Hot metal & oil ( Die Coat )"

To change the mind set following strategy was adopted:            

Surroundings:         Wet to Dry

Floor:            Unclean to clean

Machine:         Dirty to Pretty

Initial Cleaning:       Jishu Hozen  1st step 

Benefits:      Already narrated in the article

No of Kaizens so far:     14  

Full Objective:     Not yet met

2.     Maharashtra Scooters Limited , Satara    

        Unit of Bajaj auto Ltd , Pune

Here 10 model cells were created in each department to cover the entire organization. 

Time Taken:        13 months

Implementation: Introduced '5S' concept & TPM systems through conducting training & education & implemented in all departments in selected  MODEL CELL through full participation and involvement of concerned workmen and technical staff of the cell.

Benefits:             Breakdown reduction

                              Defects reduction

                              WIP reduction

             Space saving

                             Productivity Improvement

                             Noise pollution reduced

                             Confidence & Morale of staff enhanced as their equipment became reliable and less prone to breakdowns.

Full Objectives of TPM:     Partially met as the cultural change takes 3 to 5 years 

I hope I have clarified to my best of abilities. Should you require any other clarification please do not hesitate to write to me. 

Thank you for your searching questions. 

Regards,

R.S.Bhargava