Introduction:
Maintenance, similarly to a large number of other activities, has been conducted in an ad-hoc manner in most manufacturing organisations. Total Quality Management is aimed at satisfying customer requirements. Implementation of TPM is approached differently by manufacturing organisations.
Example A: One of Eastman Kodak’s subsidiaries has implemented TPM successfully using the team approach. Tennessee Eastman Company (TEC) has defined TPM as follows:
A partnership between the maintenance and production organisations to improve product quality, reduce waste, reduce manufacturing cost, increase equipment availability, and improve TEC‘s state of maintenance. This partnership emphasizes the involvement of all employees in maintaining facilities and equipment.
Total Preventative Maintenance at TEC is centred round five main objectives which are geared towards bringing together maintenance personnel and operators, broadening their skills and encouraging them to support one another. The five objectives include the following:
1 Utilisation of operators to perform specified routine maintenance tasks on their equipment;
2 Utilisation of operators to assist mechanics in the repair of equipment when it is down;
3 Utilisation of mechanics to assist operators in the shutdown and startup of equipment;
4 Utilisation of lower skilled personnel to perform routine jobs not requiring skilled craftsmen;
5 Utilisation of computerized technology to enable operators to calibrate selected instruments.
Implementation of the TPM:
Study existing culture
Designing to change the culture
Building commitment
The team approach
Opportunity audit
Anticipating concerns/ resistance
Monitoring receptivity