Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) is a holistic approach to equipment maintenance that strives to achieve perfect production:

• No Breakdowns
• No Small Stops or Slow Running
• No Defects

In addition, it values a safe working environment:

• No Accidents

Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a strategy that operates according to the idea that everyone in a facility should participate in maintenance, rather than just the maintenance team. This approach uses the skills of all employees and seeks to incorporate maintenance into the everyday performance of a facility. Under the total productive maintenance philosophy, everyone from top-level management to equipment operators should participate in maintenance. But how? Each member of an organization can contributes in their own way

• Operators are the owners of a facility's assets, meaning they need to take responsibility for the day-to-day maintenance of their machines. This includes the cleaning and regular lubrication necessary for equipment health. Operators are also expected to find early signs of equipment deterioration and report them, as well as determine ways to improve equipment operation.
• Maintenance managers and technicians are expected to train and support operators to meet their goals and perform more advanced preventive maintenance activities. They are also expected to take responsibility for improvement activities that will impact the key performance indicators (KPIs) set out by reliability engineers.

The Eight TPM Pillars

The eight pillars of TPM are mostly focused on proactive and preventative techniques for improving equipment reliability.

PILLAR	WHAT IS IT?	HOW DOES IT HELP?
Autonomous Maintenance	Places responsibility for routine maintenance, such as cleaning, lubricating, and inspection, in the hands of operators.	Gives operators greater "ownership" of their equipment. Increases operators' knowledge of their equipment. Ensures equipment is well-cleaned and lubricated. Identifies emergent issues before they become failures. Frees maintenance personnel for higher-level tasks.
Planned Maintenance	Schedules maintenance tasks based on predicted and/or measured failure rates.	Significantly reduces instances of unplanned stop time. Enables most maintenance to be planned for times when equipment is not scheduled for production. Reduces inventory through better control of wear-prone and failure-prone parts.
Quality Maintenance	Design error detection and prevention into production processes. Apply Root Cause Analysis to eliminate recurring sources of quality defects.	Specifically targets quality issues with improvement projects focused on removing root sources of defects. Reduces number of defects. Reduces cost by catching defects early (it is expensive and unreliable to find defects through inspection).
Focused Improvement	Have small groups of employees work together proactively to achieve regular, incremental improvements in equipment operation.	Recurring problems are identified and resolved by cross-functional teams. Combines the collective talents of a company to create an engine for continuous improvement.
Early Equipment Management	Directs practical knowledge and understanding of manufacturing equipment gained through TPM towards improving the design of new equipment.	New equipment reaches planned performance levels much faster due to fewer start-up issues. Maintenance is simpler and more robust due to practical review and employee involvement prior to installation.
Training and Education	Fill in knowledge gaps necessary to achieve TPM goals. Applies to operators, maintenance personnel and managers.	Operators develop skills to routinely maintain equipment and identify emerging problems. Maintenance personnel learn techniques for proactive and preventative maintenance. Managers are trained on TPM principles as well as on employee coaching and development.
Safety, Health, Environment	Maintain a safe and healthy working environment.	Eliminates potential health and safety risks, resulting in a safer workplace. Specifically targets the goal of an accident-free workplace.
TPM in Administration	Apply TPM techniques to administrative functions.	Extends TPM benefits beyond the plant floor by addressing waste in administrative functions. Supports production through improved administrative operations (e.g., order processing, procurement, and scheduling).