In brief
Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a concept from Japan that makes operators and maintenance jointly responsible for the availability of equipment.
Contents
What is Total productive maintenance?
TPM originated in Japanese industry and was shaped largely by Seiichi Nakajima. The basic idea: maintenance is not solely the task of a specialist department but of all employees, from machine operators to top management. The aim is production without unplanned stoppages, without quality defects and without accidents.
The concept is usually described in pillars. Central is autonomous maintenance: operators carry out simple tasks such as cleaning, lubricating, visual checks and retightening themselves and report abnormalities early. Further pillars are planned maintenance, the targeted elimination of sources of loss, quality maintenance, training, taking maintainability into account as early as equipment planning, TPM in administrative areas, and health, safety and environmental protection. The 5S method for order and cleanliness in the workplace is often regarded as the foundation.
Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is used to measure success, combining availability, performance and quality losses in a single KPI. TPM also changes the demand for parts: operators need consumables directly at the machine, and early damage reports make spare parts requirements easier to plan.
In practice: maintenance and procurement
When introducing autonomous maintenance, it pays to store the consumable parts for operator tasks, such as lubricants, filters or seals, with unambiguous part numbers directly at the machine. A fixed replenishment procedure prevents the new routines from failing for lack of material.
Synonyms and abbreviations: TPM · total productive management · autonomous maintenance
Frequently asked questions
What are the pillars of TPM?
A model with eight pillars is common: autonomous maintenance, planned maintenance, focused improvement, quality maintenance, education and training, early equipment management, TPM in administrative areas, and health, safety and environment. The number and names vary slightly depending on the source. The 5S method is usually regarded as the basis.
What does autonomous maintenance mean?
Autonomous maintenance means that machine operators carry out simple maintenance tasks themselves: cleaning, lubricating, checking, retightening bolts and reporting abnormalities. This relieves the specialist maintenance team, which can concentrate on more demanding work. Prerequisites are training, clear standards and easily accessible materials.
How are TPM and OEE related?
OEE is the central KPI in TPM. It shows how much of the theoretically possible production is actually achieved as good parts and makes visible whether losses stem from stoppages, reduced speed or scrap. This makes it possible to identify precisely where improvement measures should start.