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. Total Preventative Maintenance is a continuous improvement activity. Total Preventative Maintenance can have a strong strategic relevance. TPM can have a great impact on the operational infrastructural decision making processes. The planning, scheduling and control of operations depends to a large extent on process capacity and capability.
Important points regarding TPM:
(i)
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Total Quality Management is aimed at satisfying customer requirements.
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The tools and techniques of TQM can monitor process behaviour to detect any variation in its capability and thus bring about the required corrections and amendments.
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In a sense, tools and techniques are there to determine whether a process is capable or not by referring its capability to customer specifications.
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Total Preventative Maintenance on the other hand introduces capable processes, helps maintain their capability and implements corrections to render them more capable.
(ii)
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Total Preventative Maintenance, unlike the traditional application of maintenance, uses a pro-active approach to introduce change before any chance of disruption occurs.
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Traditional maintenance deals with crises when they occur (firefighting). It is about patching up at any cost and at the detriment of quality.
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Proactive maintenance on the other hand is about maintaining high standards of quality and reliability so that products and services are conforming to customer requirements all the time.
(iii)
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Total Preventative Maintenance is a continuous improvement activity.
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Process stability is perhaps a visionary objective.
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It is however the role of any comprehensive TPM programmes to aspire to the implementation of process stability and its maintenance.
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Furthermore TPM should aim at the introduction of new and creative ideas which will optimize quality standards and reduce waste and costs to the organisation concerned.
(iv)
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Total Preventative Maintenance can have a strong strategic relevance.
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It contributes greatly to decision making processes related to tactical, infrastructural issues and the macro structural issues.
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The choice of process equipment is a long term decision and contributions from TPM personnel can be of great value to the evaluation, selection and implementation aspects of equipment.
