Download the 2011 Edition (PDF) - ReliabilityWeb.com

TPM
When we at Productivity Inc first started teaching TPM in the
1980’s, we developed a five- day event similar to the Kaizen
Blitz, which we called the “maintenance miracle.” This was a
practical course in autonomous maintenance, implementing the first three
steps on pilot equipment in a host facility.
Since then, we have seen many versions of autonomous or operator
maintenance which have missed the point that autonomous maintenance
is a process, not a result. Giving an operator a list of maintenance tasks
is not Autonomous Maintenance; restoring, improving and maintaining
equipment is.
So my thing to think about and do in 2011 is to take a piece of
equipment – something that is both meaningful, due to being a capacity
constraint, causing significant downtime, or both, and manageable,
being small enough for
your team of five to nine
people to complete in
three to four days, and
perform the first three
steps of autonomous
maintenance:
Improve - make modifications to the equipment to eliminate sources of
contamination and causes of deterioration, and to improve accessibility
for both operation and maintenance.
Maintain - prepare an operator maintenance standard and visualize the
checkpoints on the equipment itself. Review current PMs in relation to
this new standard.
Not only is autonomous maintenance an improvement process, it is a
learning process – for you to learn about how far your equipment has
deteriorated, and for your operators to learn about how your equipment
performs its functions.
Performing an autonomous maintenance pilot with your team members
from your engineering, maintenance and operations departments will
give you new insights into the
status of your equipment and
maintenance operations.
Malcolm Jones is founding director
of Productivity Inc’s UK office and
has worked in the field of TPM for
more than twenty years.
UK website: www.productivityeurope.org
or US website: www.productivityinc.com
Restore – bring the
equipment back into
its original condition
by cleaning, inspecting and
correcting all deterioration.