ABSTRACT
Total productive maintenance (TPM) first took root in the automobile industry and rapidly became part of the corporate culture in companies such as Toyota, Nissan, and Mazda, and their suppliers and affiliates. There are three main reasons why TPM has spread so rapidly throughout Japanese industry and why companies outside Japan are becoming interested: It guarantees dramatic results, visibly transforms the workplace, and raises the level of knowledge and skill in production and maintenance workers. Equipment management in process industries has three aspects. The first involves planning for the entire life cycle of equipment. The second aspect concerns the type of maintenance to be performed, that is, the approach and its frequency. The third aspect involves allocating responsibility for maintenance. TPM is normally implemented in four phases (preparation, introduction, implementation, and consolidation), which can be broken down into twelve steps.
