Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a tool that ensures timely and cost-effective equipment repair. It can be used in all businesses, including offices, but is particularly useful in the manufacturing sector.
TPM was first introduced by American consultants in Japan and is an offshoot of TQM1
The Japanese adopted and developed the concept and began teaching the TPM in other countries including the U.S. in the 1970s
TPM has since then developed into a valuable tool for effective planned maintenance, reducing down time, and saving of time, energy and money.
The success of a TPM program depends on commitment by the top management and a total team effort
The goal is to increase production by flawless operation and eliminating downtime
TPM trains employees to plan and complete scheduled maintenance and to optimize equipment performance.
The key to implementing TPM is to classify each piece of equipment according to its criticality and to focus maintenance efforts on the most critical category. For example, equipment such as personal computers are categorized as least critical since they do not require significant maintenance and are easily replaced.
Tracking overall equipment effectiveness is also part of TPM. Employees are trained to identify problem areas that affect productivity. Each piece of equipment is carefully studied for downtime, productive time, and availability.
Equipment is then modified and processes improved to minimize downtime and failures.
Visual controls, such as easy-to understand labels, are part of proper TPM.
Routine daily maintenance checks, lubrication, minor adjustments and minor part changes are the operator's responsibility. Planned and major maintenance is carried out by specialized maintenance personnel.
Meticulous record is kept of all operations, inspections, and maintenance actions.
TPM was introduced at UTC in 1993; its Facilities depa
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