What is Autonomous Maintenance?

Welcome to the next edition of the newsletter, where we delve into lean manufacturing and explore its various concepts and tools. This article will focus on one of the pillars of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Autonomous Maintenance (AM). AM is a critical element of lean manufacturing that involves empowering front-line workers to take ownership of equipment maintenance, resulting in improved equipment reliability, reduced downtime, and increased productivity. In this article, we will look at what autonomous maintenance is, its benefits, and how it is implemented in the workplace. Whether you are new to lean manufacturing or an experienced practitioner, this article will provide valuable insights into how autonomous maintenance can help you achieve your organization's production goals.

Operators should look after their equipment

Autonomous maintenance aims to create a scenario where all operators look after their equipment, carrying out routine checks, oiling and greasing, replacing parts, doing simple repairs, spotting problems at an early stage, checking precision, and so on.

Operators need to understand their equipment

Autonomous maintenance can only be carried out by operators who are thoroughly conversant with their equipment. An operator’s work does not begin and end with the operation; it must also embrace maintenance.

The essential skill required of an operator is the ability to identify abnormalities and immediately notice when something is not quite right with the output quality or the equipment. This and the three other abilities operators need are listed below.

Operators need the ability to:

• Recognize abnormalities when they see them (The ability to identify abnormalities)
• Respond swiftly and correctly when abnormalities occur (The ability to take corrective action)
• Set clear criteria defining what is expected and what is not (The ability to set conditions)
• Keep strictly to the rules governing these conditions (The ability to sustain)

More specifically, each operator needs to acquire the ability to:

• Identify and correct equipment abnormalities
• Understand how the equipment works, and identify the causes of any abnormality
• Understand the relationship between the equipment and the quality of the product, foresee quality problems, and find out what is causing them
• Carry out repairs
• Implement appropriate Focused Improvements, either independently or in cooperation with other departments

Operators who satisfy these requirements will feel for the equipment and be sensitive to the subtle early warning signs of defective output or failure. They will be able to discover the causes of problems and forestall them. Then, and only then, they can be called equipment competent.

The Basic Precepts of Autonomous Maintenance

The equipment has become increasingly sophisticated and complex, and the maintenance function has gradually separated from the production function. The result is that production and maintenance departments have become isolated in their camps, with one making and the other fixing. This approach makes equipment much less efficient than it could be. The need to remedy this culture has led to the emergence of the “Autonomous Maintenance” discipline, the basic precepts listed below.

The basic precepts of Autonomous Maintenance:

1. The problems that stop equipment from working, or make it work less effectively, can be eliminated – in other words, zero-defect, zero-breakdown status can be attained – by changing how everyone who works with the equipment, including the operators, thinks and behaves.
2. When the equipment works better, the people work better, and when the people work better, the whole factory works better.
3. Autonomous Maintenance should be introduced step by step under management’s guidance, with each step implemented thoroughly. It should involve the whole workforce and empower individuals to fulfill their potential.

Figure “The Steps to Autonomous Maintenance, and How they Work” illustrates the steps to be followed in rolling out an Autonomous Maintenance program based on these precepts. The individual steps are detailed in Section 2 (‘Step-by-Step Development’).

Because of the situation described above, in which maintenance and production have become separate entities and the ‘I make, you fix’ mentality has permeated the shop floor, many operators see themselves simply as ‘producers,’ whose only contact with the equipment consists of keeping the process supplied with materials and performing quality checks. Anything to do with caring for the equipment, even lubricating it and keeping it clean, is seen as a specialist maintenance caste province. The upshot is that operators disclaim all responsibility for how their equipment is running; if a breakdown occurs, they blame the maintenance technicians for not doing their job correctly or claim that the company has chosen the wrong type of machine – the problem never has anything to do with them.

This way of thinking has to be changed. By persuading operators to do their bit, even if this means tightening up nuts and bolts and cleaning and lubricating the machinery, we can help to prevent equipment from failing. And if operators are encouraged to get in touch with their equipment in this way, they can spot any abnormalities and rectify them promptly.

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