Thomas Industrial Library

4. Lack of Maintenance Basics

TPM is built around doing the basics right. In fact, studies have shown that almost half of all equipment breakdowns in a plant are related to the basics of maintenance, such as cleaning, inspecting, lubricating, and proper fastening procedures. If the basics are neglected, then the results are never realized because the TPM process would be built on a flawed foundation.

5. Lack of a Critical Equipment OEE Focus

This problem illustrates the expression “a mile wide, but only an inch deep”. The resources in the plant involved in TPM can be spread too thin, trying to do too much. When this happens, the results are small and have no major impact on plant or equipment throughput. Without the hard, tangible results, the TPM effort loses momentum and ultimately fails.

The focus of the TPM program, particularly during the early stages, must be on the critical bottleneck or constraint equipment. Unless this is the case, the results are not noticeable and the TPM initiative never produces quantifiable results. In turn, without results, the TPM resources are re-deployed in other company initiatives that are producing results.

6. Work Culture Not Evolved Properly

This problem is an issue in some plants that may have had adversarial workforce–management relations in the past. It takes time and effort on the part of both sides to rebuild the trust and mutual understanding that is necessary for TPM to be successful. If either the workforce or management feel that the other has a hidden agenda in implementing TPM, then the mutual trust and cooperation will not develop.

Only by developing a common focus on improving equipment effectiveness, to be the best, will the proper work culture and cooperation ever develop.

7. Lack of Changing the Rewards and Recognition Systems

One TPM expert says “You reward what you value.” If you do not change the reward and recognition system to reflect the new focus that TPM provides the organization, then the new behavior is not reinforced. Unless the old behaviors in the plant change, it is only a matter of time until everyone goes back to the old way of doing things.

If having operators involved in some daily maintenance on their equipment is valued, then the company must find a way to reward it. If maintenance technicians doing more predictive and reliability analysis on the plant equipment is valued, then again the company must find a way to reward it. For as long as most companies can remember, they rewarded the heroes, those individuals who could quickly fix the equipment or make it run (even if at half-speed) until the end of the shift. If this is the behavior that is rewarded, then this is the behavior that the company will receive. However, if proactive and reliability work are what is valued, then the reward and recognition system must also be changed to reflect those priorities.

8. Lack of Management Knowledge of TPM

This problem is created by a lack of knowledge of what TPM really is, what is involved, and what changes are necessary to implement it in a plant or facility. In some companies, management takes the “fairy godmother “ approach to implementing TPM. They come into a room, wave their magic wand over the group, bless the TPM initiative and then leave the room, believing that this is all they need to do to make the TPM effort successful.

The way to overcome this problem is training and education about what TPM is and what it isn’t. This training is best done with mixed groups of upper, middle, and first-line management together and trained in TPM with the hourly workforce. This approach insures that everyone in the organization hears the same message, understands the issues, asks their questions, and gets the answers in front of their coworkers. Thus, any miscommunication and misunderstanding of the TPM concepts are prevented.