PROCESS OPTIMIZATION

TPM Analysis

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a maintenance program which involves a newly defined concept for keeping a plant and its machines operational without unplanned stoppages.

TPM Analysis can be considered the ‘medical science’ of machines and equipment.

The goal of a TPM program is to:

  • Markedly increase production.
  • Avoid waste.
  • Reduce overall operating costs.
  • Preserve service & quality levels.

The primary focus of our maintenance strategy is to ensure 100% up-time of critical machines and perform cost-effective maintenance of non-critical assets. Secondary, but just as essential, is an effective business continuity plan. The ability to predict equipment failure through the utilization of several tools is key to process stability and growth.

How We Helped

Maintenance Team Eliminates Missed Shipments
Maintenance Team Eliminates Missed Shipments

Maintenance team eliminates missed shipments by reducing downtime and sustains using Outlook

 

Opportunity: A small industrial manufacturer was missing shipments to their customers and the alarm bell was rung by the leadership team. A kaizen event was conducted, and the root cause analysis determined machine downtime was a key contributor. Fortunately for the company, the new maintenance leader had experience with Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). The following actions had to be taken immediately to solve the missed shipment issue and caused the company to develop a more long-term TPM process:

  • A 5S event highlighting sort, straighten and shine was conducted
  • The event drove the team to focus on proper lubrication and filter monitoring on required equipment
  • Daily, weekly and yearly “check up” steps were established on critical maintenance items
  • Operators and Management were trained on the key leading indicators of machine failure and how they are linked to the check ups
  • Machine cycles were monitored, and uptime became a KPI for that process.
  • A preventative maintenance schedule was created by the maintenance team

 

Results: The Preventative Maintenance (PM) schedule was created; however the company could not afford a stand-alone PM system. The company had to get creative! The maintenance team utilized their existing Outlook software to execute the PM system. Using the “task” function, schedules were created for each machine and stored in Outlook with automated reminders popping up to require check-off when complete. Operators were trained to use a set standard following the activities identified during the 5S event to create an autonomous maintenance system. The new PM schedule and the operator and front-line leader autonomous maintenance system eliminated the machine downtime category on the missed shipment pareto.

Additional Items

Key Questions
Key Questions
  • Has your Maintenance team performed a risk analysis for key assets?
  • Are you practicing Asset Integration, Decommissioning and life cycle management?
  • Do your machine Operators have autonomy to perform routine corrections?
  • Does your facility practice repeatable work (standardization) to reduce maintenance defects?
  • Is there a well-defined Continuous Improvement program throughout the entire organization?
  • Do you have an on-going Gemba program to catch equipment issues before they turn into downtime issues?
  • Does your equipment provide autonomous warning indicators to highlight the need for acute or continuous maintenance?

Ready to transform?

Get in contact with our TPM Analysis experts.

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