How do you balance the trade-offs between planned maintenance and unplanned downtime in your TPM program?

1 Define your maintenance strategy

The first step is to define your maintenance strategy based on the criticality, condition, and cost of your assets. You can use tools such as Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), or Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) to identify the most important and problematic equipment and processes. Then, you can decide which type of maintenance is most suitable for each asset: preventive, predictive, or corrective.

2 Implement autonomous maintenance

Autonomous maintenance is one of the core pillars of TPM. It empowers operators to perform basic cleaning, inspection, and lubrication tasks on their own machines. This reduces the burden on the maintenance team and improves the operators' awareness and ownership of the equipment. Autonomous maintenance also helps to detect and prevent minor issues before they escalate into major breakdowns. To implement autonomous maintenance, you need to train and coach your operators, establish clear standards and procedures, and provide the necessary tools and resources.

3 Schedule and prioritize planned maintenance

Planned maintenance is essential to maintain the optimal condition and performance of your equipment and processes. It involves regular inspections, tests, adjustments, repairs, and replacements of parts and components. Planned maintenance can be preventive, based on time or usage intervals, or predictive, based on data and indicators of wear and tear. To schedule and prioritize planned maintenance, you need to use a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) or a similar software that can help you track, manage, and optimize your maintenance activities.

4 Minimize and manage unplanned downtime

Unplanned downtime is the enemy of TPM. It disrupts your production, reduces your quality, increases your costs, and affects your customer satisfaction. Unplanned downtime can be caused by various factors, such as human error, equipment failure, power outage, or external events. To minimize and manage unplanned downtime, you need to have a contingency plan, a root cause analysis process, and a continuous improvement culture. You also need to communicate effectively with your stakeholders, document your actions and learnings, and restore your operations as quickly and safely as possible.

5 Monitor and measure your TPM performance

The final step is to monitor and measure your TPM performance and evaluate the impact of your maintenance strategy on your business goals. You can use key performance indicators (KPIs) such as OEE, Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), Mean Time To Repair (MTTR), Maintenance Cost Per Unit (MCPU), or Downtime Cost Per Hour (DCPH) to track and analyze your maintenance efficiency, effectiveness, and profitability. You can also use visual management tools such as dashboards, charts, or boards to display and share your TPM results with your team and organization.

6 Improve and innovate your TPM program

TPM is not a one-time project, but a long-term journey. You should always look for ways to improve and innovate your TPM program and adapt to changing conditions and customer expectations. You can use tools such as Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), Kaizen, or Six Sigma to identify and implement improvement opportunities and eliminate waste and variation. You can also foster a culture of TPM excellence by engaging and rewarding your employees, promoting cross-functional collaboration, and encouraging creativity and learning.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?