Benjamin S. Blanchard

An enhanced approach for implementing total productive maintenance in the manufacturing environment

Many systems in use today are not performing as intended, nor are they cost effective in terms of their operation and support. Manufacturing systems, in particular, often operate at less than full capacity, productivity is low, and the costs of producing products are high. In dealing with the aspect of cost, experience has indicated that a large percentage of the total cost of doing business is due to maintenance‐ related activities in the factory; i.e. the costs associated with maintenance labour and materials and the cost due to production losses. Further, these costs are likely to increase even more in the future with the added complexities of factory equipment through the introduction of new technologies, automation, the use of robots, and so on. In response to maintenance and support problems in the typical factory environment, the Japanese introduced the concept of total productive maintenance (TPM), an integrated life cycle approach to factory maintenance and support. TPM methods and techniques have been successfully implemented in Japan through the past decade, and more recently in the USA. Inherent within the TPM concept are the aspects of enhancing the overall effectiveness (efficiency) of factory equipment, and providing an optimal group organizational approach in the accomplishment of system maintenance activities. Both the equipment and the organizational sides of the spectrum need to be addressed in fulfilling the objectives of TPM. It is believed that while many successes have been realized in structuring organizations to respond better to the maintenance challenge, very little progress has been made relative to the influence of equipment design for minimal maintenance and support (i.e. the incorporation of reliability, maintainability, and supportability characteristics in design). Briefly addresses this aspect of the problem, identifies some design analysis/evaluation tools that can be used, and recommends an approach for the continuous improvement of manufacturing systems in terms of operation and support.