We are in a time of great competitiveness in the market in which every action counts for a company to be able to occupy the first position in front of competitors. For this, it is necessary to ensure the reliability of your business through efficient techniques.
Therefore, the maintenance department is fundamental to your strategy. Yes, because thanks to it, your production does not stop, and your company remains competitive. A very efficient methodology is Total Productive Maintenance, known as TPM.
It is based on three principles: breakage, defect, and zero accidents. These ensure that your products are of excellent quality, produced by highly efficient equipment and by a team that works safely and is involved in the processes.
Here, as you already know, maintenance is our focus. So, to understand more about Total Productive Maintenance and how to be more efficient in your maintenance, continue with us in this article!
- What is Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)?
- Advances in the maintenance process
- The main types of losses that TPM seeks to eliminate
- What are the 7 pillars of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)?
- Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) advantages
- How to implement Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)?
- Expert Software
What is Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)?
Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a management culture that aims to combine the proper functioning of machines and facilities with the participation of employees. TPM implementation, despite encouraging the inventive side of all employees of a company, requires strict control.
TPM is a systematic approach to improving a company’s efficiency and productivity. Its goal is to reduce unplanned downtime and increase equipment availability. It also includes preventive maintenance implementation practices and the continuous improvement of maintenance processes.
Advances in the maintenance process
TPM proposes advances in the maintenance process by minimizing the losses caused by corrective maintenance or even preventive maintenance. Thus, each of the letters (T, P, and M) therefore, has a meaning.
T = “Total”: in the sense of overall efficiency or total life cycle of the production system.
P = “Productive”: means the search for the maximum limit of the efficiency of the production system.
M = “Maintenance”: means maintenance in the broad sense, considering the total life cycle of the production system.
The main types of losses that TPM seeks to eliminate
TPM is a philosophy that attempts to improve business processes. Therefore, all the actions that are performed have an impact on availability, performance, and quality. This is reflected in the productivity and profitability of organizations.
To achieve these goals, TPM seeks to eliminate six losses that we will see below:
1) Breaks
The most expensive type of loss for companies is equipment breakdown. When equipment operations are interrupted, the company faces its most feared problem: downtime in production. As a result, the business can suffer countless losses and compromise its reliability with its customers.
To avoid this loss, constant equipment monitoring is necessary. All preventive and predictive actions need to be very well designed by managers to ensure the proper functioning of their equipment and thus reduce production losses due to equipment breakdown.
2) Setup
With equipment breakdowns, interventions are necessary to reestablish its correct functioning. In this case, TPM seeks to optimize maintenance time so that, especially critical equipment for production, is available as soon as possible.
In this loss, the manager needs to be aware that the time lost in the setup will interfere with the production numbers.
3) Idle time
In this loss, TPM seeks to reduce equipment idle time. When changing parts, downtime has a direct effect on production. It is a time that will naturally happen because even without any breakage, stops for changing parts will happen. In this case, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of these exchanges.
Losses due to small adjustments must be well controlled and planned by managers so that they do not become major problems for production.
4) Low speed
Controlling the speed of equipment is another factor that can generate considerable losses in production. When equipment works at a lower speed than it was designed, the company begins to lose in terms of the number of items produced.
This is because all the planning was done on top of a production that your equipment cannot produce on time. After all, it is working at a reduced speed.
This can be solved with the help of predictive maintenance, for example, which allows for real monitoring of the machine’s performance. Managers who do not have the technology for such monitoring are able to measure according to their historical data. This way you can schedule interventions to avoid further delays in production.
5) Unsatisfactory quality
Another very relevant loss that TPM seeks to attack is with respect to the quality of products. Products outside the standard quality offered by the company can seriously compromise the reputation and reliability of your business.
Equipment running outside of factory specifications may directly impact the specifications of your products.
For this, effective and continuous equipment management ensures the quality of products and avoids rework, which can generate increased costs for your business.
6) Start-up
Last but not least, among the losses is the start-up. In this case, the problems happen even before production starts. Problems with inputs or raw materials can cause your items to be lost because they do not meet your supply standards. Therefore, the mapping of suppliers and materials must be rigorous so as not to suffer from impacts on products.
What are the 7 pillars of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)?
Total Productive Maintenance is based on eight fundamental pillars that must be implemented to ensure the success of the approach. Below, we will briefly address each pillar. To learn more about each of them in detail and learn how to apply efficient strategies, you can also access the articles in our TPM Pillars series.
Autonomous Maintenance: It concerns the technical training of the professional who is involved in the operation of the machine, creating a culture of belonging. Thus, the operator has full knowledge of all events that happen with the equipment under his supervision.
Planned Maintenance: as the name implies, it is performed through schedules to identify possible problems with the equipment that may lead to production downtime.
Quality Maintenance: includes all the activities carried out to maintain the proper conditions of the equipment so that the quality of the products is not compromised.
Specific Improvements: include the activities that are performed to enhance overall equipment efficiency and reduce/eliminate losses and waste in companies.
Early Management: It is characterized by improvement activities that are performed in the initial phase of the project, which, with prior knowledge of the interventions, can guarantee a more efficient system.
Training and Education: training and qualifications are performed with employees in the workplace itself to improve interventions.
Safety, Health, and Environment: It is characterized by the risk reduction in the safety and health of the company’s employees. It avoids work accidents and environmental pollution through actions that are taken from the first pillars.
TPM in Administration: TPM techniques and strategies are also applied in the managerial areas. With this, the company can reduce and even eliminate waste in the planning, engineering, development, HR areas, and other departments related to the production area. It is important because these departments are responsible for the management of goods or services that can generate profits or losses for the company.
Each pillar is important to ensure that TPM is implemented effectively and that the expected benefits are achieved. By following these pillars, businesses can improve efficiency and productivity, reduce costs, and improve the quality of the products and services offered.
Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) advantages
With all the possibilities seen so far, you have already understood the importance of total productive Maintenance! It can also bring benefits such as:
- improved efficiency and productivity;
- cost reduction, increased quality of products and services offered;
- increased customer satisfaction;
- reduced machine downtime;
- increased equipment life;
- improved safety in the workplace.
How to implement Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)?
To implement Total Productive Maintenance in your company, it is important to start with a thorough assessment of the company’s current situation. This includes assessing the efficiency of production processes, identifying areas for improvement, and establishing clear goals for implementing TPM.
Next, it is important to train and educate employees on the TPM eight pillars and how they can contribute to improved efficiency and productivity. Additionally, it is important to establish a monitoring and evaluation system to ensure that TPM is being implemented effectively and that benefits are being achieved.
With the successful implementation of TPM, businesses can significantly improve efficiency and productivity, reduce costs, and improve the quality of the products and services offered.
Expert Software
By implementing TPM, your business can become more competitive in the marketplace and achieve greater long-term success. For this, it is important to have tools that help your manager in the search for the best strategies.
With maintenance management performed by specialist software, it is possible to use the basic concepts of TPM. It is important to think about this: it will only be functional if it is adequate for the company’s reality.
Relying on the support offered by Engeman®, the process of managing the useful life of a company’s assets is undeniably more effective.
With Engeman® implementation and the use of its records and other functionalities, there is a coordinated maturation of maintenance management.
Therefore, companies must have complete mastery over their own management strategies. Maintenance should be an instrument to reduce production costs and not the other way around.
For more information, talk to our team! Bring more possibilities to your management!
