1AnIntroductiontoTotalProductiveMaintenance(TPM)ByVenkateshJhttp://www.plant-maintenance.com/articles/tpm_intro.shtmlWhatisTotalProductiveMaintenance(TPM)?Itcanbeconsideredasthemedicalscienceofmachines.TotalProductiveMaintenance(TPM)isamaintenanceprogramwhichinvolvesanewlydefinedconceptformaintainingplantsandequipment.ThegoaloftheTPMprogramistomarkedlyincreaseproductionwhile,atthesametime,increasingemployeemoraleandjobsatisfaction.TPMbringsmaintenanceintofocusasanecessaryandvitallyimportantpartofthebusiness.Itisnolongerregardedasanon-profitactivity.Downtimeformaintenanceisscheduledasapartofthemanufacturingdayand,insomecases,asanintegralpartofthemanufacturingprocess.Thegoalistoholdemergencyandunscheduledmaintenancetoaminimum.WhyTPM?TPMwasintroducedtoachievethefollowingobjectives.Theimportantonesarelistedbelow.•Avoidwastageinaquicklychangingeconomicenvironment.•Producinggoodswithoutreducingproductquality.•Reducecost.•Producealowbatchquantityattheearliestpossibletime.•Goodssendtothecustomersmustbenondefective.SimilaritiesanddifferencesbetweenTQMandTPM:TheTPMprogramcloselyresemblesthepopularTotalQualityManagement(TQM)program.Manyofthetoolssuchasemployeeempowerment,benchmarking,documentation,etc.usedinTQMareusedtoimplementandoptimizeTPM.Followingarethesimilaritiesbetweenthetwo.1.Totalcommitmenttotheprogrambyupperlevelmanagementisrequiredinbothprogrammes2.Employeesmustbeempoweredtoinitiatecorrectiveaction,and3.AlongrangeoutlookmustbeacceptedasTPMmaytakeayearormoretoimplementandisanon-goingprocess.Changesinemployeemind-settowardtheirjobresponsibilitiesmusttakeplaceaswell.2ThedifferencesbetweenTQMandTPMissummarizedbelow.CategoryTQMTPMObjectQuality(Outputandeffects)Equipment(Inputandcause)MainsofattaininggoalSystematizethemanagement.ItissoftwareorientedEmployeesparticipationanditishardwareorientedTargetQualityforPPMEliminationoflossesandwastes.Typesofmaintenance:1.Breakdownmaintenance:Itmeansthatpeoplewaitsuntilequipmentfailsandrepairit.Suchathingcouldbeusedwhentheequipmentfailuredoesnotsignificantlyaffecttheoperationorproductionorgenerateanysignificantlossotherthanrepaircost.2.Preventivemaintenance(1951):Itisadailymaintenance(cleaning,inspection,oilingandre-tightening),designtoretainthehealthyconditionofequipmentandpreventfailurethroughthepreventionofdeterioration,periodicinspectionorequipmentconditiondiagnosis,tomeasuredeterioration.Itisfurtherdividedintoperiodicmaintenanceandpredictivemaintenance.Justlikehumanlifeisextendedbypreventivemedicine,theequipmentservicelifecanbeprolongedbydoingpreventivemaintenance.2a.Periodicmaintenance(Timebasedmaintenance-TBM):Timebasedmaintenanceconsistsofperiodicallyinspecting,servicingandcleaningequipmentandreplacingpartstopreventsuddenfailureandprocessproblems.2b.Predictivemaintenance:Thisisamethodinwhichtheservicelifeofimportantpartispredictedbasedoninspectionordiagnosis,inordertousethepartstothelimitoftheirservicelife.Comparedtoperiodicmaintenance,predictivemaintenanceisconditionbasedmaintenance.Itmanagestrendvalues,bymeasuringandanalyzingdataaboutdeteriorationandemploysasurveillancesystem,designedtomonitorconditionsthroughanon-linesystem.33.Correctivemaintenance(1957):Itimprovesequipmentanditscomponentssothatpreventivemaintenancecanbecarriedoutreliably.Equipmentwithdesignweaknessmustberedesignedtoimprovereliabilityorimprovingmaintaina...
