Dear All,

Just some tips for those implementing TPM in their plant. I have spend almost my entire period when I was working with one industry as a TPM Senior Engineer and have learned very well from experience in implementing it.

TPM originated from the east, the Japanese, they have a way of doing things, what is important is not exactly to imitate them on how they implement TPM which will be very hard to work for your industries. I know that most industries implementing this strategy are struggling and your pitfalls are also their frustrations.

Before embarking to any TPM strategy, kindly take note of the following, if these factors are not taken seriously or have been looked at, then it is guaranteed that TPM will fail.

1st : TPM Goals and the Company's goals must be aligned, if they are different then you will have a hard time in implementing TPM.

2nd : TPM cannot be done by one person or a TPM Facilitator, it requires an office, staffed by full-time people with a manager to whom they will report. Their function is to overlook the implementation of TPM. It is impossible to implement TPM with people working as part time.

3rd : Managers must be included in pilot machines. TPM called this the Manager's Model Machine and this is one of JIPM's requirement.

4rth : Does the company have a budget for TPM implementation. TPM is costly most specially during the initial stages of the implementation as restoration and correction of abnormalities will take place.

5th : TPM is heavy on documentation, make sure that the people doing it understands this requirement. Documents should not be placed on folders but rather on bulletin boards for everyone to see.

6th : Highlight the success, this is the only leverage that you have to sell them to management. Do not present it yourself but rather have the team present them to Top Management.

7th : TPM will never work through Management Support, what we need is Management Commitment

8th : Training is very important for TPM Start-up activities, all must be trained most specially Management.

9th : TPM is a Top Down Approach, and can never work on a Down-Up Approach. The decision to implement TPM must come from the highest person in the industry.

http://rsareliability.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1180653194

My Warm Regards,

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Rolly12,

Rolly,
This is a good topic to explore. I'm glad you started the thread. I'm talking with a company that wants to implement RCM at a new plant. My current industry is fairly new to implementing RCM.

My impression is that they want a single RCM engineer to build and maintain the entire program from scratch, with some support from inside groups. Management at my current site thought they could implement RCM the same way. It must be a prevalent impression. I think they must see or hear about a consultant coming in, performing a study and leaving a report and RCM is nearly implemented. I don't know what the misconception is. My experience tells me that most consultant driven programs are never actually implemented, and if they are, only partially; especially if the work gets too hard for a non-RCM group to follow through on.

Our current implementation has a good story. The RCM Manager couldn't implement the program alone. After many ups and downs in program credibility, he was able to lobby for headcount. He transitioned internal people from each craft who had RCM tendencies and a desire to learn. The core group has consisted of a CMMS data entry expert, mechanical tech, an instrument tech, an electrical tech, a utility operator and a mechanical engineer. What he set up was a group that was self-supporting and could perform FMEAs, well written job plans from direct experience and other RCM functions with a minimum of bother to the crafts. We were not seen as an outsider group. Still, we receive pokes from the techs as being superfluous. I've found the crafts, by nature, don't like supporting RCM. They're a hands-on group. We've been effective at our sites (we support multiple sites with multiple buildings), but we still have a large amount of work on our plates. Many times our focus is interrupted because of projects that we are admittedly the natural group to support, such as major data transitions to upgraded versions of CMMS software. I consider it part of our job to assure the data is in the best state for continuing operations.

Point being that RCM isn't just an implementation; it is a living process that must be improved upon as the process determines. It is labor and data intensive. I am very proud of the program we've been able to install here. I'm proud for my manager to be able to install his vision even with the struggles he faced.

I could go into my experiences with free entry work plans, generalized work plans designed multiple equipments, transition to specific work plans to produce more predictable and defendable results, etc.; perhaps later.

There are times when a systemic failure of an OEM product used in our process will take a month or better to prove the OEM manufacturer that they have a systemic problem, after doing that, I find myself gathering huge amounts of data to support my argument. And at times, pointing out problems with their designs and working with them on redesign.

When supporting our process to resolve a failure of a critical component, one person cannot continue the RCM implementation alone. The implementation appears to be stalled as can be seen from the outside. The entire program gets a bad reputation for not making things happen. And so it goes.

I think that's all I want to say. We'll see where the thread goes from here.

Jeff

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Wally,

"Management at my current site thought they could implement RCM the same way"

May I ask Rolly & Jeff to indicate who are the management in their cases?

I really enjoy reading these discussion boards and I would like to take a more active participation although my participation has been more by asking questions than by giving answers.

I asked the question because, in my case of a very small organisation, upper management particularly the "bean counters" are non technical and I doubt whether they have heard about TPM (maybe TPQ from some text book) and definitely not RCM. I get the feeling that in Jeff's & Rolly's cases it is a question of selection or implementation of something known or at least recognised. How do you think it feels trying to build up a case for something and you feel like your're talking in a foreign language? Don't know if you're with me?

One of the key elements in any maintenance program whatever letters you put on it are the technicians!

As a manager you MUST be proud of your techs. If you do not take pride in what they accomplish they will not take pride in what they are doing. As managers we often get caught up in all of the "other stuff" we have to do and leave our techs to do what they do, and if we have given them; training, tools, and a vision of how the plant should be maintained, what they know best how to do. Oh we easily think of them when something goes wrong, but it is essential to make time for each individual tech several times a month for some on-on-one feedback of how they are doing, measured by; metrics, vision, and your personal feelings (pride).

There are many folks who write about what motivates people, promise of promotion vs fear of termination, but in my experience most of your techs just want to be techs. Our job as managers is to find what motivates each individual tech; is it that cool new tool, ramrodding the replacment of a troublesome machine that doesn't fit into the cost/benefit analysis, lunch for a job well done...

All this builds loyalty which makes it easier to get them to take pride in what they do for you/tenant/company.

Just a few ramblings from a guy who moved to corp management from facility manager in '92 and retired in '01.

Rennie,
Management in the implementation at our site was a talented individual. He was mostly project and new construction oriented though. He was not seasoned in a maintenance environment. He did bring RCM to the plant after all, and that's a good thing. I don't think he understood how labor intensive and on-going the process is. Not his fault, just a mis-conception.

Klaus,
I agree totally with your statements. I've been lucky enough to be in an industry that promotes trust and respect in its employees. We used to have a good amount of autonomy and authority to make decisions at the tech level that management stood by. Sadly, as the company grew large with executive staff with visions of growing even larger, the autonomy and authority gave way to meetings and bureaucracy. Alas, that's the way most things go these days.

We rely on the techs for real time input for problem codes and work plans that need updated or extended. They have an active voice in the RCM process. The nice thing about having a multi-functional RCM team is that much data, desk work and RCFA reports get done without involving the techs in too much work they don't like doing.

J-

Could anyone supply me with an example of a realiability policy. I am meeting with a manufacturing company next week to introduce and encourage the company to implement a reliability policy and take steps to initiate a root cause analysis team.

Thank you,

Frank Abbott, Ph.D.

Dear All,

First there are differences between how TPM and RCM is being implemented, kindly check this link for a comparison about the 2 strategies.

http://maintenanceforums.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/209103451/m/3871069592

Although some difficulties can be shared by the two strategies. I still consider TPM to be the larger part while RCM to be just a slice of the pie that can be exactly be fitted in the later part of the Planned Maintenance pillar of TPM, where an algorithm or decision diagram is required.

My Warm Regards,

Dear All,

For those embarking on a TPM journey, would like to share my experiences on implementing TPM and its key factors that must not be overlooked.

http://www.rsareliability.com/newsletternovember2007issue.htm

My Warm Regards,

How to measure performance of TPM? Any KPIs for TPM?

Josh,

Different pillars of TPM have different KPI's used example in Planned Maintenance we use MTBF, MTTR, Breakdown Occurence.

However, the primary measure for TPM is OEE or Overall Equipment Effectiveness.

My Warm Regards,