ABSTRACT
Quality maintenance evolved as a major total productive maintenance (TPM) activity in certain fabrication and assembly industries that are becoming increasingly automated. In process industries, quality has always been built into the product through the process. Quality maintenance consists of activities that establish equipment conditions that do not produce quality defects, with a goal of maintaining equipment in perfect condition to producing perfect products. Quality defects are prevented by checking and measuring equipment conditions periodically and verifying that the measured values lie within the specified range. In process industries, quality is governed by process conditions as well as quality components. Daicel Chemical Industries uses an "MPQ Matrix" to control process conditions. "Q" is the quality check item, "M" is the machine or equipment where the defect mode appears, and the "P" is the control "point". This chapter outlines the steps taken in a quality maintenance program implemented for the production of a certain product at Tokuyama Sekisui Industries' Nanyō Plant.
