Total Productive Maintenance

TPM is a philosophy. TPM is a concept which originated in the traditional production and manufacturing industry. Efficient production requires efficient production line and equipment. Maintenance is one of the key aspects focused on ensuring the well-being of the entire production machinery. In order for an organization to function properly, every running process, activity, resource and machines should be properly maintained for their quality, effectiveness and other productivity factors.

Organizations always had the dilemma of whether to continue to produce or to take shut down to maintain the machines. As any shut-down will result in loss of production, hence was the dilemma. TPM is the process which brings the maintenance aspect of the organization under the spotlight. Although maintenance was regarded as a non-profit activity by the traditional management methodologies, TPM puts a brake on it. Preventive and proactive maintenance is important for ensuring the efficiency of the production lines. So when you go for your best PMP certification, make sure you check for total productive maintenance in the curriculum.

With the emphasis on TPM, downtime for maintenance has become an integral part of the manufacturing or production process itself. Now, the maintenance events are properly scheduled and executed with organized plans. The goal is to hold emergency and unscheduled maintenance to a minimum.

Earlier any kind of shut-down needed senior management approval. With TPM, preventive maintenance shut-down became part of overall organizational planning. The production teams are empowered to plan for timely preventive and regular maintenance shut-downs as needed without compromising on production volumes.

TPM as a concept is integrated with the Total Quality Management (TQM). While TQM focused on overall quality, TPM focused on the well-being of the machines and production lines by means of timely maintenance. TQM and TPM work in tandem to deliver quality products in right quantity to the customers. 

Motives of TPM 

1. Adoption of life cycle approach for improving the overall performance of production equipment.
2. Improving productivity by highly motivated workers which is achieved by job enlargement.
3. The use of voluntary small group activities for identifying the cause of failure, possible plant and equipment modifications.

Uniqueness of TPM

The major difference between TPM and other concepts is that the operators are also made to involve in the maintenance process. The concept of "I ( Production operators ) Operate, You ( Maintenance department ) fix" is not followed.

TPM Objectives

1. Achieve Zero Defects, Zero Breakdown and Zero accidents in all functional areas of the organization.
2. Involve people in all levels of organization.
3. Form different teams to reduce defects and Self Maintenance

Direct benefits of TPM

1. Increase productivity and OPE ( Overall Plant Efficiency ) by 1.5 or 2 times.
2. Rectify customer complaints.
3. Reduce the manufacturing cost by 30%.
4. Satisfy the customer needs by 100 % (Delivering the right quantity at the right time, in the required quality.)
5. Reduce accidents.
6. Follow pollution control measures.

Indirect benefits of TPM

1. Higher confidence level among the employees.
2. Keep the work place clean, neat and attractive.
3. Favourable change in the attitude of the operators.
4. Achieve goals by working as a team.
5. Horizontal deployment of a new concept in all areas of the organization.
6. Share knowledge and experience.
7. The workers get a feeling of owning the machine

TPM works in tandem with TQM to ensure delivering quality products in right quantities without much disruptions and surprises during production. TPM focus on quality and well-being of the production machines, TQM focuses on ensuring the quality of deliverables and processes.