1. Decide upon which section is going to have TPM take place. It is best to
complete TPM’s on one section at a time.
2. The TPM team will consist of all operators who use the machines in that
section (ideally include all members across all shifts - it safes having to
keep repeating the process). The TPM team will also consist of any team
leaders, maintenance personnel, and someone from either support engineering or
the quality section to explain the logic behind TPM.
3. Make sure everyone in the team understands the logic behind TPM, if
needs be this will include literature and one-on-one discussion by with
operators by whoever is explaining the TPM logic.
4. The actual TPM process can begin in several ways, the simplest is to get
all the operators around the machine and actually identify what is not right
with the machine.
5. Areas for improvement will cover everything from oill leaks, filter
changes, new guards required, loose bolts, poor fixtures, machine requiring
re-painting, etc.
6. Under TPM each area for improvement are given tags, using colour codes,
to identify the priority of the improvement task is highlighted. For example
red could be high (needed urgently to prevent breakdowns) and green could be
low priority (does not affect machine functionality)
7. All tags are numbered and where possible stuck to different areas of the
machine. This will show anyone entering the workplace, the potential errors
with this machine.
8. Details from the tags placed on a machine are highlighted on a sheet to
all the machine operators and the maintenance teams.
9. Using a control board, place in the section where the machine belongs,
the machine name and the number of tags which needed are displayed to
highlight the amount of work to be completed in a section.
10. Operators are trained by the maintenance teams to detect simple signs
of machines behaving incorrectly.
11. Operator training matrix's are designed to reflect which operators have
been trained to complete which levels of machine maintenance.
12. Repeat the process for the section that has just completed for example
on 6 month intervals. Whilst other sections in your production cycle go
through the process from step 1.
Successful TPM’s often use photographic models to show how a machine has
undergone the TPM process. Often someone with a camera will take pictures of the
machine in it’s pre and post TPM stages and display the data on the TPM
control board to use as model for other machining areas.