Total Productive Maintenance

by Roger A.P. Fielding, BENCHMARKS

Ask any recent visitor to Japan about their trip, and, at some point, they’ll refer to the “Bullet Train.” First introduced in 1963, the “Shinkansen” or “New Train” tracks now service all the major population centers. Trains between downtown Tokyo and Osaka, the most heavily traveled route (about the same distance as from Washington to Boston or Detroit), now carry close to 400,000 people daily at speeds up to 200 miles per hour, relegating air travel to 5% of the traveling public.

The visitor will comment on their speed, their prompt departures and arrivals (they are always on time), the range of service available on the trains, and the fact that they always stop at the correct place in the stations! They’ll comment on their cleanliness and comfort, and the appearance and presentation of the train crew. The regular traveler will also comment on the ease with which one can change from one train to another. Even if owned and operated by another railroad company, all long distance timetables are integrated with convenient connections between trains. They will also note how thousands of people arrive at their designated place on the departure platform, just in time for their train, and are transported on their way, to be replaced, a few minutes later, by the next trainload.

About six million people move in and out of Tokyo each day. Thousands take the Shinkansen. Each person has a specific departure time, many have reserved seats. Traveling by surface or underground train from all over the Tokyo area, most reach their departure point within minutes of leaving. If they arrived earlier, there wouldn’t be room for them to wait! Each person (and there are thousands of them) makes their way to the train station to arrive “just in time.” This level of precision is possible because every part of the transportation system — people and machines — work properly all the time.

Last year, General Electric’s Jack Welsh set a quality target of “Six Sigma” for all activities in the company — meaning that 99.9996% of all activities will be executed properly. Like the Japanese transportation systems, all the General Electric group of companies, its people and machines, and its suppliers, will be required to work properly all the time. This level of performance can only be achieved by embracing TPM — Total Productive Maintenance.

Kaizen and Total Productive Maintenance

The successful extruder’s engineering, maintenance and operating personnel ensure that the billet furnaces and die ovens are clean and that the heating and circulating systems operate as specified. They ensure that billet and dies are delivered to the press at the correct operating temperatures, and that dies are not left in the die ovens for extended periods. They ensure that container heating (and cooling) and die slide heating systems work as specified. They inspect and maintain the dimension and surface finish of the pressure plate, the die slide (die cassette), the butt shear, and the container bore and container face. They ensure that the press is properly aligned.

Recovery from billet or log is maximized by correcting all functions of the press and handling system which might generate scrap. Throughput is maximized by ensuring that the press operates as designed, with minimum lost time.

Kaizen means improvement. In the workplace it means continuous improvement involving everyone, managers and workers alike. Kaizen is the umbrella concept covering most of those practices which are often considered to be “uniquely Japanese,” such as Kanban, total productive maintenance (TPM), and Zero Defects. But with the introduction of the word Kaizen into management-speak and labour agreements in North America, it can no longer be considered the sole prerogative of the Japanese.

Total Productive Maintenance, TPM, maximizes equipment effectiveness, eliminates breakdowns, and promotes operator maintenance through day-to-day activities involving the total workforce. TPM trains operators to share responsibility for routine inspection, cleaning, maintenance, and minor repairs with maintenance personnel. TPM dramatically increases productivity and quality, optimizes equipment lifecycle cost, and broadens the base of every employee’s knowledge and skills. The five steps to the successful introduction of Total Productive Maintenance in an extrusion plant will be discussed in subsequent articles.

Total Productive Maintenance - Part 2