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Statistical Analysis and Reliability Estimation
of Total Productive Maintenance
--M S Prabhuswamy, P Nagesh and K P Ravikumar
Total Quality Management (TQM) and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) systems are considered as the key operational activities of the quality management system. Implementing TQM and TPM together results in synergy. They act as two drives to improve the business performance excellence in a typical industry. One of the main objectives of TPM is to increase the productivity of plant and equipment with a modest investment in maintenance. After implementing TPM, it is necessary to measure the effectiveness of TPM. Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) is an indicator that measures the effectiveness of TPM. The number of defective products produced by the machine indicates the condition of the machine and also reduces the rate of quality and affects the OEE. In this paper, an attempt is made to measure the effectiveness of TPM by performing a statistical analysis. The assessment of TPM on a continual basis is an essential activity of OEE validation. This activity involves large computations and analytical skills. The estimation of TPM is a time-consuming and costly process. It is not possible to conduct the study very often. If the behavioral pattern of TPM is determined analytically, it helps the maintenance engineer to predict the OEE over a specific period of time. In view of the above, reliability-based TPM estimation is proposed in the paper. © 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Synergies of Lean Six Sigma
-- M Vijaya Sunder
This paper analyzes two popular process improvement methodologies—Lean and Six Sigma—to compare and contrast the differences and commonalities which can lead to a successful continuous improvement program. The views of Lean and Six Sigma professionals across financial services, healthcare, hospitality and ITES sectors were studied and analyzed for understanding the real-time challenges of corporates in the current markets for quality deployment. The study was conducted using surveys, interviews and case studies. The scope of the study is restricted to transaction-based service organizations. Lean being an on-floor improvement technique and Six Sigma a popular statistical-based methodology are looked at from a focused perspective for developing a hybrid methodology. Lean Six Sigma model is proposed in the paper for successful deployment. The model is further tested for acceptability as a proposal of usage for process improvement professionals and proved successful with an acceptance rate of 98.8%. The paper also presents important failure modes of Lean Six Sigma deployment, its advantages and points of caution. © 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Continuous Improvement Strategies:
An Overview
--Jagdeep Singh and Harwinder Singh
Continuous Improvement (CI) strategies are the recognized way of reducing waste by focusing on small incremental changes. Most of the manufacturing industries are currently encountering a necessity to respond to rapidly changing customer needs, desires and tastes. To compete in this competitive environment, these manufacturing organizations need to adopt such strategies in their manufacturing environment. CI strategies ensure that manufacturing processes become leaner and fitter, and also eliminate waste where value is added. This study attempts to identify various CI strategies utilized by the manufacturing organizations and reviews the existing literature on CI strategies. © 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Research Note
Management by Walking Around:
An Effective Tool for Day-to-Day Operations of Hospital
--D Rama Mohan, S Sathish Kumar and G Subrahmanyam
Management By Walking Around (MBWA) emphasizes the importance of interpersonal contact, open appreciation, and recognition. It is one of the most important ways to build civility and performance at the workplace. It does not just cut vertical lines of communication but also builds trust and relationship (Serrant 2009). MBWA was developed by executives at Hewlett-Packard in the 1970s (Trueman, 1991). It became popularized by a book written by John Peters and Robert Waterman in the early 1980s.
The basic principle is that nothing is more instructive than seeing what actually transpires in the real world and learning from that. MBWA is a leadership technique that has stood the test of time and can be used by any manager. MBWA does not mean leaving your responsibilities behind and moving around the work areas; it does more harm than good if it is not executed properly (Jones, 2009). The idea of MBWA is that managers should learn about the problems and concerns at firsthand.
© 2013 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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