Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) has been recognized as one of the
significant operations strategy to regain the production losses due to equipment
inefficiency. Many organizations have implemented TPM to improve their
equipment efficiency and to obtain the competitive advantage in the global
market in terms of cost and quality. In the implementation of TPM in a
manufacturing organization, both Human-oriented and Process-oriented
Strategies has been identified as critical success factors. This paper, therefore,
focuses on the two TPM operational strategies, which are posited to improve
the extent of TPM implementation in manufacturing organizations. This study
is an attempt to look at the TPM implementation from the perspective of a
developing country such as Malaysia.
Efficiency and effectiveness of equipment play a dominant role in modern
manufacturing industry to determine the performance of the organizational production
function as well as the level of success achieved in the organization. For more than
two decades, the development of the Malaysian manufacturing sector had registered
an excellent performance and helped in attracting a large number of foreign capital
investments into the country. These excellent performances have enabled the Malaysian
manufacturers to enjoy an important competitive advantage in the global market,
especially in terms of cost and quality. However, as time passed, the impact of
equipment efficiency has become more and more critical as the widespread utilization
and application of highly sophisticated and automated machines in the industry
increases. The maintenance of these complicated equipment and machines thus became
very crucial and costly to manufacturers. Many organizations began to realize that thecontinuity of this excellent performance must be supported by a strong backbone of
efficient and effective equipment.
Traditional maintenance technicians are regarded
as passive and non-productive to the current production function. Hence, implementing
Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) in the manufacturing industry has emerged as
an important operational strategy to overcome the production losses due to equipment
inefficiency. TPM is an innovative approach, which holds the potential for enhancing
the efficiency and effectiveness of production equipment by taking advantages of
abilities and skills of all individuals in the organization. TPM focuses on maximizing
the Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE) with involvement of each and everyone in
the organization. It will not only establish a complete maintenance system, but also
aims to improve the maintenance skills and knowledge among the shop floor operators.
Now, TPM and its implications received prestigious worldwide recognition in achieving
the ultimate Zero Defects and Zero Breakdown targets. |