TPM maintenance is most difficult lean tool

to implement
It is important to understand up front that Total Productive Maintenance is the most difficult
of all the “lean tools” to implement in companies for two reasons:

 A TPM maintenance implementation requires the greatest amount of culture change

(as compared to implementing other lean tools) from different groups of people within
the organization almost simultaneously.
 Of all of the areas of potential lean process improvement within the four walls of an
organization, the maintenance of our equipment is the area which is the furthest
behind.

Fortunately, the payback from this implementation – in terms of on-time delivery, reduced
scrap, improved productivity and improved associate morale – is probably greater than any of
the other lean tools.
Let's review both of these challenging implementation issues and consider possible solutions.

As we look at the organizational culture change required for the TPM maintenance
implementation, it is important to remember and review the four components of a successful
lean transformation:

To successfully implement TPM maintenance (as well as any of the other lean tools), it must
be built on a foundation of a lean culture and supported by the lean policy deployment part of
lean planning.
The development of a lean culture starts with the establishment of behavioral expectations.
Such expectations, or codes of conduct, set the culture baseline. An excellent example from
the Wiremold Company is shown below:

For TPM maintenance to be successful, two additional cultural changes must occur:

 Management, in most organizations, has always considered the maintenance

department to be a “necessary evil”, an undesirable “indirect” expense. Management
has failed to properly lead and manage the maintenance activity. As a result of this
treatment, maintenance:
o Wants to be located as far away from production and management as possible
o Has little regard for the production process
o Considers themselves “on call”
o Uses a “fire-fighting/chicken-wire repair” maintenance strategy
o Makes excuses for a lack of maintenance improvements

This must change. In lean, maintenance activities are known to be the foundation of creating
world-class manufacturing processes.

 The second change is the development of respect for our manufacturing equipment
and the products they produce. Often, U.S. organizations buy new equipment, ignore
or are unconcerned about proper maintenance procedures and schedules, and then
proceed to run the equipment into the ground. Then everyone stands around
complaining that what the organization needs is new equipment. They buy new
equipment and the cycle repeats.

While visiting Japan, we were told by a Japanese plant manager, who was watching a brand
new piece of equipment being unloaded at his facility, that “this was the worst condition this
piece of equipment would ever be in.” This reflected a cultural respect for how important the
equipment was to their success and how the Japanese never let equipment deteriorate but
always try to improve it or make it better (easier to operate, easier to maintain, etc.).

Additionally, top management must:

 Make TPM maintenance a part of their policy deployment goals

 Support the creation of a full-time certified lean facilitator position (organizations
with more than 100 people)
 Support, encourage and discuss the organizational role and culture changes that will
be required during this transition
 Ignore the red flags that TPM will create if the organization is using a “standard cost”
accounting system
 Recognize a world-class-level TPM implementation can take many years (again, of all
the lean tools/activities, maintenance is the furthest behind)

Other TPM Maintenance Implementation Considerations

1) Some thoughts on supporting the maintenance department culture change:

 Treat/respect maintenance as the foundation of our processes (not as an indirect

cost!).
 Move maintenance to the center of the processes (if required, 5-S during the move).
 Assign maintenance directly to cells, production lines and value streams (indirectly to
maintenance manager).

2) Of the five potential maintenance strategies:

Breakdown – Wait until it breaks then scramble or use the “fire-fighting” strategy, also
known as reactive maintenance (this is what many organization are currently doing).
Preventive (planned downtime) – Periodic or scheduled maintenance; e.g., oiling, greasing,
filter changes, etc., to prevent premature wear and breakdowns, combined with periodic
major inspections and overhauls, which prevent equipment performance deterioration.
Predictive – Repair or replace components before failure based on historical information,
monitoring equipment operation or life cycles. Life cycles can be based on:

o number of cycles
o operating time in minutes or hours
o calendar time
o component wear data
o variations in component operating parameters

Corrective or improvement – Use of “root cause” analysis to determine why a component

wore out or failed, followed by equipment modifications or upgrades to prevent recurrence.
Maintenance Prevention – Design or specification of equipment components that do not
require maintenance. This can include the design or specification of equipment that is easy to
clean, inspect and lubricate.
Preventive and predictive strategies can account for 75 to 90 percent of all improvement in
the short term.
3) The key to an effective preventive maintenance component within the TPM initiative is the
machine operators. Up to 75 percent of breakdowns can be detected and prevented by well-
trained associates.
4) Component failure analysis studies indicate that from 60 to 75 percent of all equipment
mechanical failures are a result of lubrication failure (contaminated, wrong type, inadequate
or excessive).
5) The cost of a TPM maintenance program is optimized (between spending too much and
not spending enough) when roughly 90 percent of all maintenance activities are planned and
10 percent are unplanned.
6) Often, a good place to start your TPM maintenance overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)
measurement system is with equipment availability.
7) Purchase a TPM maintenance computer program only after a manual system, which meets
the organization data management and analysis requirements, has been developed.
8) Equipment builders who do not support TPM efforts on their already purchased equipment
should not be considered for future equipment purchases.

9) Consider using a measurement system like the one used to measure lean supplier
performance:

To evaluate new equipment purchases:

A Leader's Guide to Project Management
Success
A leading vehicle manufacturer built a facility to manufacture its flagship product. The
design parameters established for this facility identified models and options to be built in the
volumes necessary to meet the client's marketing research. The plant was designed and built
to meet those needs; however, when it came time to meet the production requirements, the
plant did not meet goals.

What had gone wrong? It came down to some unforeseen items. Customers really liked the
product and were willing to pay a little more for a more customized painting process. This
changed the original volumes and model mix targets, which required more processing time
and different routing in the paint shop. Most base parts can be painted in single solid colors or
tutones, which is a combination of a single base color that is then partially painted with a
secondary color. Custom finishes included tutones (plain or with decals or graphics), gloss
and flat finishes. Each paint process requires a different routing and number of passes
through the system. The original marketing mix expected fewer customized finishes. The less
complex model mix allowed fewer passes through the paint equipment for higher volume
throughput.

Every paint system is dependent on the paint supplier to provide future coatings to meet the
customer's specifications, often years in advance. It is a difficult process developing paints
that will meet all requirements for different colors, metallic flake size, gloss and workability.
The original design called for paint that could be "spot repaired," allowing small defects to be
corrected offline without repainting the entire part. Some of the materials did not meet the
workability required for the process. It is common to find paint workability issues when first
putting a new paint into production. Reprocessing parts required additional passes through
the system. The change in model mix and the paint reprocessing added capacity requirements
to the system, thereby reducing throughput.

There are few perfect projects, and sometimes you must go back to the beginning to see what
is required to make the project a success. In this case, the manufacturer had to go back and do
another production simulation with the revised model mix and coating restrictions to see what
annual production volume could be attained.

Define and Document Need

To solve a problem, you first have to identify it. Projects address a specific need, such as
improving throughput, quality or safety. Project charters can be useful in defining and
documenting metrics of success. The project charter starts with the project definition,
describing the need to be fulfilled and answering the questions of what, where and who.
When defining the scope of work, leaders specify what is needed to solve the problem and
how much it is going to cost. A charter does not guarantee success, but it does assure that a
sound methodology will be used to measure the project's success against predetermined
metrics.

The next step is to define how the project will be evaluated. Leaders should consider how
success is defined in the role of each stakeholder, e.g., corporate executive, plant manager,
comptroller, safety manager, project manager, contractors, production manager, quality
manager, etc. This project did not meet the production manager's annual volume
requirements, so it was a failure from his perspective. However, the safety metrics were very
good, so from a safety perspective, it was a success. A project can be on schedule and within
budget, but if it does not solve the original identified need, it was not a success.

A common symbol used in project management is an equilateral triangle with sides labeled
schedule, budget and quality. It shows that if you focus only on one or two sides, the others
suffer. In this case, the project did not have the quality requirements to meet the needs.

Identify the Project Scope

Projects are about change, and change is challenging. To mitigate the risk associated with
change, get the view of operators, team leaders and other resources. Getting their buy-in and
incorporating their DNA on project deliverables will lead to an easier, more accurate
implementation and overall project success. Designers can develop systems that process
product efficiently, but there is nothing like getting input from the operators, supervisors and
maintenance team. Soliciting their feedback shows respect and gives them input into the finer
points of operation. The more input, review and approval they have in the beginning, the
easier it will be at implementation. You don't have to follow every suggestion, but you should
have reasons for why you designed what you did and reasons for why the change everyone is
afraid of is warranted.

Develop a list of subject matter experts (SMEs) and coordinate an offsite workshop to
facilitate breakout groups that will identify the "must haves" and the "wish to haves." This is
a great opportunity to start a simulation model to show the stakeholders an initial rendering of
the project.
Throughout the project, the model serves as a dynamic representation of scope and progress.
Because many people don't understand the technology involved in a paint shop, plant
managers can use the model to show executives and decision-makers the direction of their
investment.

When to Seek Approval of Funding

Getting funding for a project is crucial, but getting it approved on time and having funds
available when needed is critical. Most projects require executive approval to receive the
funding necessary in both capital and expense funds. The process varies from company to
company, but the deliverables are similar. Each project must forecast a return on investment
(ROI), often within less than one year.

Factors such as regional locations, union versus non-union labor, market conditions and
bidder lists all have an impact on the level of scope definition and capital funding required.
Take the time to establish teams and get input from others. This input will provide the insight
needed to lead – and not just manage – the team.

Funding is a multi-stage approval process. Some funds are needed up front to cover startup
costs, but there is a danger in seeking board approval too early. If the board approves a
budget and the quotes are too high, the team can't go back to the board. Instead, it is forced to
scale down the scope to meet the budgetary constraints. Only when leaders can answer the
questions of how and how much can they be sure of meeting the deliverables in the project
charter and giving leaders the metrics to measure project success. When executives
understand the complexity of the process, they can also understand the development
timeframe and the scope of investment.

"Management has no more critical role than motivating and engaging large numbers of
people to work together toward a common goal. Defining and explaining what that goal is,
sharing a path to achieving it, motivating people to take the journey with you, and assisting
them by removing obstacles – these are management's reason for being." — Gary Convis,
president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky

Quality Flows from Leadership

Quality drives throughput, but to achieve quality requires leadership. No matter how effective
the processes are, if the workers are not energized and passionate about those processes,
quality will suffer. It is the workers who deliver quality, not the team supervisor or project
lead. The workers must understand the vision of throughput and quality. This calls for a
leader, not a boss. Quality cannot be dictated.

Leadership means caring about people and giving them the tools to succeed. The leader is
often the first one to arrive and the last to leave. Leaders take advantage of opportunities to
show they care during the project and celebrate the little victories along the way.

As an example, at a major automotive manufacturing plant, the presidents of the different

contractors agreed to help serve meals to their workers at a company safety event celebrating
1 million hours with no lost workdays. Workers sacrifice their time for more than
compensation. They need to see their leader as a person they can follow. There should be a
relationship that extends far beyond production numbers. Even in production, it speaks
volumes when a manager walking through the plant sees a piece of trash on the floor, picks it
up and drops it in the waste basket. On the other hand, it can take only a few seconds to
severely damage morale. For instance, when a manager declined a request by one of his
workers for time off to attend a family event, he lost in 15 minutes the confidence that had
taken years to build with his team.

"Quality in a service or product is not what you put into it. It is what the client or customer
gets out of it." – Peter Drucker

The Game Changer

Projects can sometimes feel like a long journey where the path is often laden with starts and
stops. Leaders must go out of their way to bring a project back on track. Defining the project
allows everyone to understand the deliverables and see how success will be measured.

Properly identifying the scope is a mark of leadership. It engages the team members in their
wants and needs. Quality is more than a number. It is the passionate pursuit by a team to be
the best. Throughput is the validation that the processes are right and the people are working
as a high-performance team.

The game changer is a company's project philosophy of in-depth and ongoing optimization. It
shows that leaders are present to work together for the long haul and that they live with the
highs and lows of a project. The project really is the foundation of a relationship.

Strategies for Timely Equipment Repairs

From initial preparation to packaging, the food and beverage manufacturing sector
incorporates a broad range of advanced technologies into highly sophisticated processes. For
many enterprises, processing equipment must endure long, punishing production runs that
require precise operations and sanitary conditions. All these requirements make the effective
and timely repair or replacement of equipment a critical necessity.

Given the vast array of mechanical and electronic parts involved, the seemingly
straightforward task of maintaining equipment frequently presents a logistical nightmare that
involves farming out components to a variety of specialty repair shops with variable
capabilities, quality, pricing and turnaround time.
Fortunately, the repair services industry is responding by broadening its capabilities to
provide more of a one-stop-shop service, often with facilities strategically located near major
manufacturers or manufacturing regions. Having a repair service in close proximity means
repairs can be completed faster and the maximum possible uptime maintained.

Specialized Equipment
Food and beverage processors typically incorporate manufacturing technologies that are
subject to unusual requirements. For numerous production line configurations, plants are
dependent on the entire line of equipment running harmoniously. The motors used for food
preparation processes must normally operate without fault for long intervals. These motors,
many of which are electric, need the proper AC and DC drives to operate efficiently and keep
energy costs under control. Some motors are exposed to harsh conditions like washdowns and
must be protected from overspray. Pump motors may be fully enclosed, making routine
maintenance more challenging.

Modern processing plants also frequently employ human-machine-interface (HMI) panels

and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems to control equipment
automatically and remotely. Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) are used to automate
electromechanical processes, providing systems with the ability to communicate via sensors
and other devices.

Given the variety and complexity of machine components, repair or replacement usually
involves sending specific components to specialty repair shops. For example, a hydraulic
component repair shop does not have the capability to also repair motors, and a motor repair
shop cannot replace memory or communication cards in sophisticated PLC systems.

However, where these services can converge are with larger international repair service
companies. Due to their size and expertise in many industries from automotive to aerospace,
these companies are equipped to offer an array of repair services under one roof. This
includes the repair or replacement of components such as servo motors, gearboxes, vacuum
pumps, hydraulic cylinders, rotary actuators, etc.

Regardless of the type of part, it is important to look for a repair company that will conduct
an initial evaluation to identify the probable cause of failure, and then repair and test the part
according to the manufacturer's specifications and test procedures.