TPM - rewarding work style

New paradigm in manufacturing:

Today manufacturing companies in Sri Lanka are struggling to survive. It is not only because of world recession but also inflexible manufacturing, lack of innovative product development and not using employees’ intellectual power in decision making which are major factors that affect our manufacturing sector.

World Class Manufacturing

The development of World Class Manufacturing has encompassed Total Quality Management (TQM), Lean Manufacturing and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). Now we are moving on to a world where target costing, value engineering, value manufacturing, value innovation and simultaneous engineering will assist manufacturers in translating customer requirements into products that can be manufactured in a profitable manner.

The foundation for all of this is a through implementation of the 5S`s. (Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu and Shitsuke). No improvement method can succeed without the basis of organization and standardization provided by the 5s`s, and 5s develop a discipline mind and discipline mind generate discipline thoughts which lead to discipline actions.

This is why companies aspiring to world class are now using the 5S approach both on the shop floor and in their offices. Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) also emphasizes on 5S as a foundation of the TPM house because 5S is the starting point for continuous improvement, enabling the company to have a solid foundation in work place organization. It improves communication and brings problems to the surface.

Then abnormalities can be seen easily. Since TPM changes the corporate culture, 5S plays a major role in that.

Good housekeeping

Initially 5S was defined as a good housekeeping tool and later on it was developed as a tool for productivity improvement. To add further value to 5S some of the experts defined 5S as a concept and some said it is a philosophy. All definitions are meaningful and make sense.

But now most of the people have started realizing that 5S is a culture and way of life. TPM improves corporate business results and creates pleasant and productive work places by changing the way people think about and work with equipment throughout the company. 5S and Autonomous Maintenance (Maintenance work performed by production operators) is one of the most important basic building blocks in any TPM program.

The mission of the production department is to produce quality products cost effectively and quickly as possible. One of its main important roles is detecting and dealing with equipment abnormalities promptly, which is the goal of effective and efficient maintenance.

The goals of an autonomous maintenance program are,

* Prevent equipment deterioration through correct operation and daily checks.

* Bring equipment to its ideal state through restoration and proper management.

* Establish the basic conditions needed to keep equipment well maintained.

* Use the equipment as a means of teaching people new ways of thinking and working.

Why Autonomous maintenance?

In the past, plant operators in process industries were expected to keep their equipment working by checking it regularly and performing minor services. Although different companies had different practices, many expected operators to perform overhauls of equipment such as pumps.

During the high growth era of the 1950s and 1960s, however equipment became highly sophisticated and complex as production technology advanced and process plants grew larger and larger.

Automation and centralization

At the same time many companies were making significant technical progresses in automation and centralization.

For many years now production departments have played an exclusively supervisory role, concentrating on production and leaving maintenance to specialists. This has bolstered “ I make, you fix” syndrome.

The future of Sri Lankan manufacturing industries is uncertain, however, and many companies hope to survive by cutting cost to boost their competitiveness. As a result, autonomous maintenance has become an indispensable program in the drive to eliminate losses and waste from the production floor and maximize the effectiveness of existing equipment. Advances in computer hardware and software are also intensifying the trend toward automation and unattended operation.

One major obstacle, however, is the large amount of manual work required to maintain the numerous sensors that automation requires and to deal with the leaks, spills, blocks and other problems characteristic of process industries.

The best people to solve these problems are those most intimately acquainted with the workplace (the operators) so the need for autonomous maintenance is increasing rapidly.

Implementing autono- mous maintenance is a step by step approach and it is implemented in seven steps, starting with initial cleaning and proceeding steadily towards full self management.

Step one to three place priority on abolishing environments that cause accelerated deterioration, reversing deterioration and establishing and maintaining basic equipment conditions.

The goals of these steps are to get operators interested in their equipment and help them shake their self image as mere switch flickers or button-pushers.

In step four and five team leaders teach inspection procedures to their members, and general inspection expands from individual equipment units to the whole process. The goals of these steps are to reduce failure and develop operators who thoroughly understand their equipment and processes.

Autonomous maintenance

Step six and seven are designed to entrench and upgrade autonomous maintenance and improvement activities by standardizing systems and methods and extending the sphere of action from equipment to other areas such as administration, supply chain and distribution and so on.

The ultimate goal of these steps is a robust organization and culture in which every workplace is capable of full self management. You can adjust these steps to suit your particular industry and business conditions.

Thilak Pushpakumara

(JIPM accredited TPM instructor) CEO/Lean Management Consultant; Institute of Lean Management (Pvt) Ltd