What are the pillars of TPM?

Total productive maintenance consists of eight primary concepts, also referred to as the 8 Pillars of TPM. These concepts are preventive in nature and empower employees to be proactive with the day-to-day maintenance of their own workspace. The pillars and corresponding actions are as follows:

1. Autonomous Maintenance - Shifting responsibility of routine maintenance from the maintenance personnel to the operators.

Employees are trained on how to maintain the equipment they use on a daily basis. It fosters a sense of personal responsibility while freeing up time for skilled maintenance personnel to complete more technical repairs.

2. Focused and Continuous Improvement - Teams working together to improve equipment operation.

Have small groups of employees work together to prioritize preventative maintenance and achieve incremental improvements. Remember, small improvements over time add up to big changes.

3. Planned Maintenance - Shifting maintenance efforts from reactive to proactive.

Employees should be trained on predictive and preventive maintenance, so they can incorporate it into their daily activities. This reduces the likelihood of breakdown and keeps the machine running smoothly. Larger maintenance tasks can be scheduled for when equipment is not in use, avoiding any unplanned downtime.

4. Quality Maintenance - Creating the highest-quality product possibly by reducing or eliminating problems in the manufacturing process.

The quality of the product can be improved when the manufacturing process is defect-free. It is important for employees to understand the parts of the process that affect product quality and how it could be improved to impact quality. Operators over time will learn to identify and address future quality concerns through quality maintenance.

5. Early Equipment Maintenance - Using existing TPM knowledge and strategies to anticipate and plan.

New equipment in the facility can be managed more efficiently and its maintenance will be simpler as a result of reviewing practical TPM knowledge an involving employees prior to any installation.

6. Education and Training - Training workers not only how to maintain equipment but why maintenance is important.

Productivity is improved when workers have a comprehensive understanding of preventive maintenance and feel empowered to fix problems as they arise. Training should include operators, maintenance personnel, and managers. When people see the bigger picture of TPM, the more likely they are to participate.

7. Safety, Health, and Environment - Creating and maintaining a safe and healthy workplace.

It is important to foster a safe environment when implementing TPM. Maintenance activities should be reviewed to determine its effect on safety and health in the workplace. Managers should be targeting for zero accidents and zero health damages.

8. Administrative and Office TPM - Improving productivity and efficiency in administrative tasks.

This pillar should be started following the first four pillars and it works to improve efficiency in the administrative functions and identify and eliminate losses. Office TPM takes the principles of TPM and translates them into administrative tasks as a way to support plant TPM.

 

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