Introduction:

In the ever-evolving landscape of manufacturing, businesses are constantly striving to optimize their processes and achieve higher levels of productivity. Two concepts that have gained significant attention in recent years are Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Industry 4.0. While TPM focuses on maximizing equipment effectiveness, Industry 4.0 emphasizes the digitization and automation of manufacturing processes. Combining these two powerful methodologies can lead to a transformative impact on operational efficiency and overall business success. In this blog post, we will explore the integration of TPM with Industry 4.0 and how it enhances operational excellence.

Understanding Total Productive Maintenance (TPM):

TPM is a comprehensive approach to maintenance that aims to eliminate losses and maximize the effectiveness of equipment throughout its entire lifecycle. It was developed in Japan and has since been adopted by organizations worldwide. The core principles of TPM include proactive and preventive maintenance, autonomous maintenance, focused improvement activities, and training and development of employees.

TPM focuses on empowering operators to take responsibility for the maintenance and continuous improvement of equipment. By involving the entire workforce, TPM creates a culture of ownership and encourages collaboration, leading to increased equipment availability, reduced downtime, and improved overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).

Introducing Industry 4.0:

Industry 4.0, often referred to as the fourth industrial revolution, represents the integration of digital technologies into manufacturing processes. It encompasses the use of advanced analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and cloud computing to create smart factories that are interconnected, intelligent, and highly automated.

By leveraging Industry 4.0 technologies, manufacturers can collect vast amounts of real-time data from sensors embedded in machinery, enabling predictive and prescriptive maintenance. This shift from reactive to proactive maintenance reduces unplanned downtime, optimizes equipment utilization, and enhances productivity.

Integration of TPM with Industry 4.0:

When TPM and Industry 4.0 are integrated, they complement each other to create a powerful synergy that significantly improves operational excellence. Here are some key benefits of this integration:

1. Data-driven Decision Making: Industry 4.0 technologies generate real-time data that can be used to monitor equipment performance, identify anomalies, and predict maintenance needs. By combining this data with TPM principles, organizations can make informed decisions about maintenance activities, such as optimizing maintenance schedules, prioritizing tasks, and reducing unnecessary downtime.
2. Predictive and Prescriptive Maintenance: TPM focuses on preventive maintenance, but when integrated with Industry 4.0, it enables organizations to move towards predictive and prescriptive maintenance. By analyzing historical and real-time data, advanced algorithms can forecast potential equipment failures, recommend optimal maintenance actions, and even trigger automated maintenance processes. This proactive approach helps prevent breakdowns, improves asset utilization, and reduces overall maintenance costs.
3. Condition Monitoring and Remote Maintenance: Industry 4.0 technologies enable remote monitoring of equipment conditions, allowing maintenance teams to detect abnormalities and diagnose issues from a centralized location. This capability, combined with TPM’s focus on operator involvement and autonomous maintenance, empowers operators to conduct routine inspections, minor repairs, and adjustments. Remote maintenance reduces response times, enhances equipment availability, and streamlines maintenance operations.
4. Continuous Improvement Culture: TPM emphasizes the involvement of all employees in improving equipment effectiveness. When integrated with Industry 4.0, it extends the culture of continuous improvement to include the optimization of digital systems and processes. By leveraging real-time data and analytics, organizations can identify inefficiencies, streamline workflows, and implement corrective measures more effectively. This integration fosters a holistic approach to improvement, encompassing both physical assets and digital systems.

Conclusion:

The integration of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) with Industry 4.0 offers a comprehensive framework for organizations to achieve operational excellence and thrive in the era of digital transformation. This integration allows for a shift from reactive maintenance to proactive and even predictive maintenance strategies. Real-time data collected through IoT sensors and advanced analytics enables organizations to monitor equipment performance, detect anomalies, and predict maintenance needs.

The integration of TPM with Industry 4.0 represents a powerful synergy that brings together the strengths of both methodologies. It combines the proactive maintenance practices of TPM with the digital advancements of Industry 4.0, resulting in optimized maintenance strategies, reduced downtime, improved equipment effectiveness, and enhanced overall business performance. Organizations that embrace this integration are well-positioned to excel in the modern manufacturing landscape and gain a competitive edge in the market.

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Oil and Gas extraction activity is one of the most hazardous processes in the chemical industry. The extracted matter contains H2S or Hydrogen Sulphide, a gas so explosive and toxic that it can compromise a worker’s life in the process. In such hazardous cases, it becomes inevitable to ensure health and safety of factory workers, and remodel the oil and gas industry to a less risky one. Using TPM or total productive maintenance can address the loopholes and improve the extraction process along with the safety of the staff involved. This article answers all the questions about usage of total productive maintenance(TPM) in the oil and gas industry. 

What is Total Productive Maintenance(TPM)

Total Productive Maintenance is an approach that reflects the idea of involving everyone in the organization to participate in operations. This means along with technicians, maintenance management, and reliability engineers; operators should also contribute to the maintenance process. Implementation of TPM helps upskill the staff holistically and uses the expertise of each member to fasten the continuity of operations. 

There are 8 pillars of Total Productive Maintenance(TPM)

1. Autonomous Maintenance
2. Planned Maintenance
3. Quality Integration
4. Focused Improvement
5. Early Equipment Management
6. Training and Education
7. Safety, Health, Environment
8. TPM in Administration

Total productive maintenance uses the 5S Foundation to carry out organizational activities: 

1. Sort: Remove anything that is unnecessary from the workspace
2. Straighten: Systematically organize the remaining components
3. Shine: Inspect and clean up the workspace
4. Standardize: Set standardized procedures to follow in discipline
5. Sustain: Ensure that the set protocols are followed and the operations are running smoothly. 

Implementing TPM in Oil and Gas Industry

• Before beginning with total productive maintenance, understanding the underlying problem and having the right mindset is necessary. You need to identify the gaps or loopholes in the operations before blindly enforcing the TPM strategies across your organizations. 

• In addition to root-cause analysis, you have to create a sense of urgency for implementing Total Productive maintenance in your organization. Take the help of external experts to make your personalized TPM strategy that complies with the protocols and functionalities of your organization. 

• The oil and gas industry is not very kind when it comes to the occupational safety of the human factor. While implementing total productive maintenance in the oil and gas industry, begin with prioritizing the health and safety of the factory workers. Ensure that the staff is regularly trained in the operations along with maintaining their occupational safety. This training should be consistently repeated to enhance operational efficiency. The usage of anti-gas equipment, fire-protection equipment, and personal oxygen masks should be taught beforehand. 

• Furthermore, weekly sessions should be conducted to discuss the progress of operations and OSH(Occupational safety and health). It might be a good initiative if your company can provide the necessary personal protective equipment free of charge to the staff involved in oil and gas-related operations. 

• Next comes mitigating corrective measures(CM) by taking preventive measures(PM). Preventive measures ensure quality, stability and efficiency in your manufacturing process. Use the Jishu Hozen(autonomous maintenance) approach to train the operating personnel for day-to-day maintenance tasks. Jishu Hozen upskills the operating personnel along with freeing up the maintenance personnel in other technical tasks. 

• An unexpected machine downtime can cost you around $50 billion a year. Hence, make sure to carry out the daily maintenance activities inspection, cleaning and lubrication of machinery and take preventive measures to avoid machine breakdowns. Conduct periodic checks to keep notes of the wear and tear happening in the machinery and get it repaired before the damage magnifies. Educate the staff by increasing their technical competency, so that they can handle the day-to-day maintenance activities on their own. 

• Invest in upgrading the technical infrastructure in the factories. Maintaining the quality of machines will boost efficiency and reduce wastage. Analyze the controlling process interaction between personnel, equipment and raw material to find out defects and loopholes. Reduce the communication gap by taking corrective actions to avoid the same mistakes happening in the future. 

• Use Gemba Observation by taking interviews and feedback to understand minor stoppages and abnormalities causing machine downtime. Additionally, use historical data to make calculative assumptions of factors resulting in machine failures. 

• Lastly, take steps to alleviate the environmental damage caused by the factory-based activities in our organization. 

Conclusion:

TPM is known to enhance operational efficiency across all fields, and the Oil and Gas industry proves to be an exceptional case study when it comes to exponential results. Oil and Gas companies face a lot of challenges when it comes to operational procedures. Hence, having a customized approach like TPM towards this formidable industry can augment progress and efficiency of the companies implementing it.

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Even the most versatile and pocket-friendly industries are prone to many vulnerabilities. But TPM, or the Total Productive Maintenance approach with its 8 pillars, can help reduce and fight these breakdowns.

So, read on to find out how TPM can help protect and save industries from machine failures and malfunctioning. The write-up will surely lead your way to apply the eight pillars of TPM to your industry and keep it from any uncertainties!

Introduction to Total Productive Maintenance 

The Total Productive Maintenance mechanism or TPM is a system that helps to keep up the equipment’s effectiveness with the idea of everyone getting the entire workforce involved in the process. 

This means that when you and your team collectively work towards preventive maintenance and proactive emphasis, it will result in fewer breakdowns and build a safer workplace for all.  

However, it can be challenging for companies to understand and implement the TPM mechanism. So, let us take you through the 8 pillars of TPM that will help you learn more about the process and its execution.

The 8 Pillars of TPM

TPM is known for its 5S foundation and the eight-pillar system. The 8 pillars of TPM cover the activities that care for and maintain all the parts of the industry. These include –

Planned Maintenance

Planned Maintenance is one of the essential pillars of TPM. It is also known as preventive Maintenance and is usually done before machine breakdown. Industries plan it according to the factors like machine age, failure rates, etc. 

It is considered the best way to avoid downtime and uptime.

Integrity in Quality

Quality Integration is about manufacturing zero defective products that will finally lead to customer satisfaction. Total Productive Management can help quality management and implement the processes linked to enhancing the organization’s quality.

Autonomous Maintenance

Autonomous Maintenance is another crucial aspect of Total Productive Maintenance. It is when the responsibility of machine maintenance, i.e., its upkeep, cleanliness, inspection, and minute updates, is given to the owner. 

Workers get used to the assets and skillfully take care of the machine. It is essential as it helps increase the worker’s skills and reduce capital costs. Timely Maintenance reduces capital expenditure and, hence, cuts expenses.

Management of new equipment

A well-suited TPM strategy always includes the management and upkeep of new equipment as one of the 8 pillars of TPM. Here, the productivity and reliability of the machines are guaranteed from the very first day. It is effective management from the early stage that will help in better designing, which in turn leads to easy operation and Maintenance. 

However, the process should consider the following factors – 

• Accessibility
• Easy operation, lubrication, and inspection
• Easy Clamping and Quick Adjustments
• Enhanced safety features
• Effective Feedback mechanism

The mentioned will help in more effective and efficient early equipment management.

Administrative Management

Administrative Management or Office TPM is about designing functions that help in the application and understanding of the principles of lean manufacturing. It eases the value-adding process and works towards providing effective services. 

Safety, health, and environment

This pillar of Total Productive Maintenance ensures that workers get a safe and healthy environment to work in. It mainly aims at three zeros, i.e.,

• Zero Pollution
• Zero Work Accidents
• Zero Burnouts

The process helps in increasing the productivity and quality of production. It is implemented using machine guards and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). Using first aid kits and personal protective equipment can enhance the process and improve safety in the work area. 

Skill enhancement through training and education

Skill enhancement through training and education is essential to involve all organization members in the development process. It is an investment that will help boost returns and cause a cut in costs. Employees can carry out the essential maintenance activities that earlier required a maintenance team. The Maintenance will now get time and energy to utilize their skills in being more proactive and better problem solvers. Managers can learn to be efficient mentors, and together everyone can work to bring success and brilliance to the company.  

Concentrated Improvement

Concentrated Improvement or Kaizen, when implemented through the 8 pillars of Total Productive Maintenance, can help improve the organization’s efficiency and productivity. 

The process includes forming teams in each department and organizing an event where groups raise the problem/issues faced during the production process. The team works together to get the root cause of the problems and suggest measures to help solve them. These issues are noted, and a baseline is created that will be used as a comparison to future achievements. 

Implementation of the 8 pillars of TPM

TPM’s eight-fold strategy is well-organized and systematically designed; however, it can only be effectively implemented if you go for a rational CMMS or Computerized Maintenance Management System. It is because production plants may experience a machine breakdown and waste of many essential resources in the production process. Hence, it is important to share the information stored in these management systems with everyone in the organization and maintain their records.

So, to maintain the system, you need to share the CMMS access with three groups: operators, engineers, and health and safety managers. 

Operators, managers, and supervisors work with equipment daily and know the exact differences between smooth functioning and glitches. Similarly, health and safety are important for any industry; thus, having safety managers in the CMMS is another essential aspect. Finally, engineers must curate the data and turn it into a reliable matrix when a lot of information is added to the maintenance system. The maintenance matrix will then help you to implement the TPM mechanism successfully, and you can cut the number of breakdowns and founderings that may occur anytime in the industry.

Final Say 

The write-up clearly defines the role of Total Productive Maintenance in the manufacturing industries. However, the system highly relies on the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS). Hence, one should understand that both systems work hand-in-hand to help procure the best results.

To conclude, the TPM mechanism helps to reduce machine breakdowns, but with some other conditions applied. Nevertheless, you can implement the strategy in any industry and save it from other future uncertainties.

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OEE stands for Overall Equipment Effectiveness. This is different from the efficiency of a machine which is Quantity produced in a certain time.OEE is a factor of the following elements shown below:

Losses that reduce OEE:

1. Losses that Impact Availability – 
   1. Breakdown Loss
   2. Planned Maintenance Time Loss
   3. Setup Loss
   4. Tool Change Loss
   5. Startup Loss
2. Losses that Impact Performance –
   1. Minor Stoppage Loss
   2. Reduced Speed Loss
3. Losses that Impact Quality –
   1. Rework Loss
   2. Defect Loss

TPM Pillars:

1. Autonomous Maintenance (Jishu Hozen)
2. Planned Maintenance
3. Quality Management
4. Kobetsu Kaizen
5. Health Safety & Environment
6. Education & Training
7. Office Total Productive Maintenance
8. Early Equipment Management

Following Techniques can be used to improve Availability Ratio in OEE:

Major Losses in Availability is #1 due to Breakdown which can be minimized by using following methods based on the Pillars of TPM.

Autonomous Maintenance: We often see Operators sitting idle due to machine breakdown & maintenance teams taking time to visit the site for repair. Hence, creating a departmental mentality of Operator will run the machine & Maintenance team will fix it. In Autonomous Maintenance operator is trained with knowledge & skill on how to keep the equipment from breaking down

Steps to Train the Operator:

1. Training on how to clean the equipment every day & inspect
2. Basic lubrication routines
3. Simple methods to reduce contamination
4. Identifying abnormalities before they cause breakdown
5. How to repair the machine

Steps to perform Autonomous Maintenance:

1. Start with initial cleaning & inspection
2. Identify & eliminate sources of contamination
3. Set C.L.T.I standard for each equipment(Cleaning, Lubrication, Tightening, Inspection)
4. Conduct training
5. Conduct random inspection
6. Standardization & visual management throughout the shopfloor
7. Continuous improvement & updating the standard

Planned Maintenance: Planned Maintenances focuses on Implementation of Time Based Maintenance, Condition Based Maintenance and Predictive Maintenance and is key pillar to be managed by Maintenance team.. This pillar is closely linked with Autonomous Maintenance as Maintenance team is actively involved in training of operators

Steps of Planned Maintenance:

1. Equipment condition analysis
2. Restoration to basic condition
3. Implement information flow system
4. Preventive maintenance system
5. Predictive maintenance system

Major Losses in Availability is #2 due to Setup Time which can be minimized by using following methods based on the Pillars of TPM.

Focused Improvement (Kobetsu Kaizen): Performing time & motion study of Setup & Breakdown andApplying SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies) principle to reduce the down time

Steps of SMED:

1. Differentiate Internal & External activities
2. Convert internal to External activities
3. Streamline all activities

Root Cause Analysis: We tend to find a problem, firefight to solve the problem & the same problem occurs again. This is because we solve only the visible problem & not find the root cause of the problem.Here 5 Why analysis – a simple tool in Root Cause Analysis, plays a huge role in finding the root cause.

If we attack and solve the root cause the chances of recurrence is minimized.

Steps of Root Cause Analysis:

1. Pareto Analysis
2. Cause & Effect Diagram
3. Validation of the above causes
4. Why Why Analysis
5. Countermeasures

Example of Why Why Analysis- 

Visible cause – Machine leakage

Why 1 – Gasket failure

Why 2 – Wear and tear

Why 3 – High vibration

Why 4 – Damaged Bearing

Why 5 – Part not available

Major Losses in Performance Ratio is #1 due toMinor Stoppageswhich can be minimized by using following methods based on the Pillars of TPM.

Minor Stoppages take place when a machine stops for a brief period of time like 1-2 min until the operator reaches the station and resolves the issue.

Major Causes of Minor Stoppages:

1. Misfeeds
2. Material Jam
3. Obstructed Product Flow
4. Incorrect Setting
5. Misalignment
6. Malfunctioning Sensors
7. Equipment design issue
8. Lack of cleaning

PM Analysis (Phenomenon Mechanism Analysis) is one of the key tools to reduce Minor Stoppages. When a problem is not as simple to be solved by 5 Why Analysis because the problems are interrelated and complex.

Steps of P-M Analysis:

1. Physically analyzing chronic problems:Firstly understand the normal operating condition, then check exactly what is occurring when there is a problem
2. Define the problem & the list of causes that is contributing to the abnormality
3. Brainstorm & list all possible causes due to 4M (Man, Machine, Material, Method). Eg – Positioning, temperature, machine parameters, raw material
4. Measure and compare with standard condition
5. If fault found create countermeasures & solve the problem

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Equipment failures and defects appear in two ways: as sporadic or chronic losses. Sporadic loss­es indicate sudden, often large deviations from the norm (current performance and quality lev­els). Chronic losses, on the other hand, indicate smaller, frequent deviations that gradually have been accepted as normal.

Sporadic losses, as the name implies, occur suddenly and infrequently. Typically, they result from a single cause that is relatively easy to identify. Also, because cause-and-effect relation­ships in sporadic losses are fairly clear, corrective measures are usually easy to formulate. For example, quality defects may arise when a jig has become abraded to a point where it no longer supports the required precision. Or a spindle may suddenly vibrate excessively, causing unacceptable dimensional variations in the product.

Chronic Losses on other hand, live up to their name by resisting a wide variety of corrective measures. Chronic losses require Innovative & Breakthrough measures that restore the mechanism or component to its original state. In nearly every cause, countermeasures done using Traditional approach for Chronic losses may bring temporary relief to the problem.

There are two types of Chronic loss:

• The problem is produced by a single cause, but the cause varies from one occurrence to the next: Suppose for a given problem there are ten potential causes, A through J. Each time the prob­lem occurs, the cause is different. Sometimes it may be A, sometimes C, or D, and so on. Consequently, measures focused on only one specific cause (A, for example) cannot control the problem.
• The problem is produced by a combination of causes, which also varies from one occurrence to the next:In some cases a combination of multiple and overlapping causes generates the problem. To make matters worse, each time the problem occurs, a different combination of factors may be involved. Today it may be factors A, B, and C; tomorrow A, C, G, and H.

Chronic losses persist for another reason. Even when people understand the nature of chronic loss, they continue to use a flawed problem-solving approach. Three types of errors are common in chronic loss analysis:

• Phenomena are insufficiently stratified and analyzed.
• Some factors related to individual phenomena are overlooked.
• Abnormalities hidden in individual factors are not addressed

Dealing with Chronic losses require advance level technique in Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). Technique is known as PM (Phenomenon Mechanism) Analysis.

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Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is a key measurement in the improvement approach called Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). Before you begin learning about OEE, it is useful to  understand a little bit about TPM. TPM is a companywide approach for improving the effectiveness and longevity of machines. It is key to lean manufacturing because it attacks major wastes in production operations. Developed origi­nally to help a supplier meet the stringent requirements of the Toyota Production System,

TPM is used today in companies around the world to improve the capability of their equipment. TPM has a number of waste-reduction goals, including equipment restoration and maintenance of standard operating conditions. TPM methods also improve equipment systems, operating procedures, and maintenance and design processes to avoid future problems. The main strategies used in TPM are often referred to as “pillars” that support the smooth operation of the plant.

The overall equipment effectiveness measure is important to many of the TPM pillars, but is probably most important to the first four pillars in the figure. This is because these pillars can directly influence OEE through daily operations, maintenance, or improvement activities.

Manufacturing companies are in business to make money, and they make money by adding value to materials to make products the customers want. Most companies use machines to add value to the products. To add value effectively, it is important to run the machines effectively, with as little waste as possible. Overall equipment effectiveness is a measurement used in TPM to indicate how effectively machines are running.

What do we mean by overall equipment effectiveness?

Many people are familiar with the idea of” efficiency,” which usually reflects the quantity of parts a machine or a person can produce in a certain time. OEE is different from efficiency in several ways. A machine’s overall effectiveness includes more than the quantity of parts it can produce in a shift. When we measure overall equipmcnt effectiveness, we account for efficiency as one factor:

Availability:a comparison of the potential operating time and the time in which the machine is actually making products.

Performance: a comparison of the actual output with what the machine should be producing in the same time.

Quality: a comparison of the number of products made and the number of products that meet the customer’s specifications.

When you multiply performance, availability, and quality, you get the overall equipment effectiveness, which is expressed as a percent­age. OEE gives a complete picture of the machine’s “health”­not just how fast it can make parts, but how much the potential output was 1imited clue to lost availability or poor quality. When you multiply performance, availability, and quality, you get the overall equipment effectiveness, which is expressed as a percent­age. OEE gives a complete picture of the machine’s “health”­not just how fast it can make parts, but how much the potential output was 1imited clue to lost availability or poor quality

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First step is to measure the OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) accurately and understand the losses. All Major losses should be selected for improvement project. Key methodology for OEE improvement is concept of TPM. TPM has 8 pillars and 4 pillars (Kobetsu Kaizen, Autonomous Maintenance, Planned Maintenance and Education & Training) must be implemented at time of starting the implementation.

Autonomous maintenance aims at creating equipment competent operator who can take care of his / her machine. Objective of autonomous maintenance is to prevent forced deterioration by detecting and correcting the Abnormalities on machine. Use of Auotnomous maintenance is very effective in reduction of breakdonws, minor stoppages & speed losses.

Another very effective TPM tool for filling lines is SMED (Single minute exchange of Die) to reduce changeover times. Changeover times can be reduced by as much as 90% using SMED technique effectively.

Systematic implementation of TPM can result in significant improvement in OEE of filling lines.

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TPM means productive maintenance (activities in which all workers of a corporation are required to participate) and stands for total productive maintenance.

• T stands for “Total”
• P stands for “Productive”
• M stands for “Maintenance”

Necessity of TPM and why TPM is required now?

The economic environment surrounding corporations becomes even more severe and total elimination of waste is required for the survival of the corporation. Therefore, wastes generated due to the failure shutdown of facilities which have been built with huge investment and wastes such as defective products should be absolutely eliminated.

Requirements for product quality become even more stringent and not even one defective product should be allowed. Quality-assured delivery of total quantity is now taken for granted.

The small-lot production of various kinds of products and shortening of production lead time have been strongly required to meet diversified customer needs. That is to say, TPM to reduce the 8 major equipment losses to zero has been recognized as necessary for corporate survival.

TPM has been developed based on the PM (preventive maintenance or productive maintenance) concept and methodology introduced from the U.S.A.

• Preventive Maintenance (PM: 1951 ~) can be said to be a kind of physical  check-up of equipment and also a kind of preventive medicine for the  equipment. Just as the human life expectancy has been expanded by the  progress in preventive medicine to prevent human suffering from disease, the plant equipment service life can be prolonged by preventing premature  equipment failure.
• Corrective Maintenance (CM: 1957 ~) is a system in which the concept to  prevent equipment failures has been further expanded to be applied to the  improvement of equipment so that equipment failure can be eliminated  (improving the reliability) or equipment can be easily maintained (improving maintainability).
• Maintenance Prevention (MP: :1960 ~) is an activity to design the  equipment and line to be maintenance-free. As the ultimate goal of the equipment and line is.to keep them completely maintenance-free, every effort should be made to try to achieve the ultimate ideal condition of “what the  equipment and the line must be.” All these activities to improve equipment
• !n 1971, Nippon Denso Co., Ltd first introduced and successfully implemented TPM in Japan.  The won the PM Excellent Plant Award for their activities. This was the beginning of TPM in Japan. Since then, TPM has spread throughout Japan, especially in the Toyota group.

TPM aims at

1. Establishing. a corporate culture that will maximize production system effectiveness,
2. Organizing a “genba-geributsu” system to prevent losses and achieve such “reduction-to-zero” targets as “zero-accidents”, “zero-defects” and “zero-breakdowns” in the entire production system life-cycle,
3. Involving all functions of an organization including production, development, sales and management,
4. Involving every member of an organization, from top management to front-line operators, and 5. Achieving zero losses through the activities of overlapping small groups.

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TPM is about maximising the overall effectiveness of equipment through the people who operate and maintain that equipment. In order to provide the essential link between equipment and people it is essential to identify a clear set of phases and steps which together make up the TPM improvement plan.

There are three phases of the TPM Implementation Plan:

Themeasurement cycle,which assesses the present effectiveness of the equipment and provides a baseline for the measurement of future improvement.  Only after understanding the current situation of Asset efficiency, right action plan can be generated. Many organisations may not have good data collection system before starting TPM Implementation. This current OEE level must be estimated based on designed capacity vs actual good output every month. After understanding the current approximate level of OEE, a data collection system must be established to measure OEE on a daily basis.  Excel templates can be used to calculate OEE initially and investment in any OEE software must be done only after OEE is fully understood by the shop floor staff and data collection on excel based systems has been stabilised.

Measurement of  6 big OEE losses is very important before TPM implementation can be started. Only after assessment of the losses, right TPM pillars can be chosen for starting TPM implementation

Thecondition cycle, which establishes the present condition of the equipment and identifies the areas for improvement and future asset care. This cycle covers assessing the current situation of equipments through observations and audits. Each and every component of the equipment is assessed against various parameters to understand the current condition. Next step in condition cycle is to start planning for improvements in equipment based on assessed situation. if planning is done well, lot of time can be saved during repairs and problem correction work

Theproblem preventioncycle, which moves equipment effectiveness forward along the road to world-class performance. this is most important cycle of TPM implementation and covers establishing a root cause analysis system to continuously work on identification, correction and prevention of all the causes resulting in loss of equipment efficiency

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Objective of Planned Maintenance pillar in TPM is to enhance natural life of the equipment by focuses on two key category of activities:

• Maintenance Activities to fix and prevent failures
• Improvement Activities
  • To extend life span of part,
  • To shorten maintenance time
  • To avoid maintenance

Planned Maintenance has following 7 steps:

• Support Autonomous Maintenance Teams
• Understand Equipment Failures
• Reverse Deterioration
• Build Information Management system
• Build Periodic Maintenance system
• Build Predictive Maintenance system
• Evaluate and improve

In Planned Maintenance step 1, maintenance team supports the Autonomous Maintenanceactivity by training operators to identify & correct abnormalities on their machines. Following are roles of Maintenance team in Planned Maintenance step 1

Autonomous Maintenance Step 1:

• To explain machine function and mechanical functions and define basic conditions – normal and abnormal
• Guidance for Identification of cleaning, inspection and lubrication items and Cleaning tools management
• Abnormality identification training – and teach about red/white tags
• Teach how to develop One Point lessons
• Help to dis-cover difficult to access areas
• Inspection while cleaning –teaching this to operators.
• Training the operators on moving parts, functional inspection of the rotating mechanisms, to find out abnormalities and making operators judge pass-fail criteria.

Autonomous Maintenance Step 2:

• Assist and implement countermeasures for sources of contamination by fabricating
• carrying out trials, installing and improving guards etc. This will include activities such as:
• Make machine easy to clean, lubricate and tighten – by operator with their involvement.
• Conducting WHY-WHY analysis of breakdown and if the reason being lack of Autonomous Maintenance activities then fill the skill gap.
• Prepare localized guards & Arrest leakages
• Removal of red/pink tags – explain and do.
• Rectifying the major abnormalities, which cannot be done by operators.
• To train the operators for developing, with one point lessons.
• To train operators to conduct daily autonomous maintenance activities safely.
• Attend to suggestions made by operators in form of countermeasures by AM team that they couldn’t implement themselves.

Autonomous Maintenance Step 3:

• Preparation of visual control – to make the changes in equipment including auxiliary units so that they are easy to clean, access, inspect and lubricate.(Re-tighten) make the equipment ‘visually controllable’ by operators
• Decide frequency for Cleaning, lubricating, tightening, making the method to do it and decide who will do what. Then teach that person ‘How’ to do.
• Provide the right kind of tools near the machine for operator to use. Similarly provide appropriate tools to maintenance for their work
• Prepare Breakdown sheet on which all breakdowns will be recorded and analysed
• Correct abnormalities that are identified through inspection.
• Establish standards for lubrication and monitoring pressure/temperatures
• Establish standards for cleaning

Planned Maintenance Step 2: Understanding Equipment failures. 

Following key activities are done in PM Step 2

• Collect data on all failures/ breakdowns
• Prepare Equipment control ledger
• Do Equipment Ranking & Select High Rank Equipment for PM activities
• Understand current conditions based on OEE, MTBF, MTTR, Maintenance Costs etc

Planned Maintenance Step 3 focuses on reversing deterioration by focusing on following key activities

• Root Cause Analysis on breakdowns and Design improvements to reduce natural breakdown
• Develop Skill to forecast breakdowns, Develop countermeasures, Measure & Monitor MTBF MTTR
• Implement and Follow Time based Maintenance and Condition based Maintenance systems

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