TPM is a management methodology that was born in Japan more than 40 years ago and quickly spread to the rest of the world due to the excellent results it produces: A drastic optimization of business assets through the development of people.
Although in its beginnings, and as its acronym indicates, Total Productive Maintenance referred to "maintenance", the program evolved until it became, at the beginning of this century, what is known as Total Performance Management or Total Performance Management.
Presenting TPM as a mere maintenance program not only represents a simplified and archaic version, but is also one of the main reasons for its failure in many implementations. On the contrary, when developments embrace a more comprehensive approach to TPM, the results are extraordinary.
Objective: Zero Losses
What characterizes TPM is its ability to look at the entire company and involve all personnel in a single project: zero losses.
It's not that equipment management has been neglected and the critical role of maintenance neglected, but rather that the name change recognizes the tremendous influence people have on the results they aim to achieve.
If we want to improve the company's overall performance, we must first strengthen the education and training of its employees, starting with operators, who typically receive the least training.
Our experience shows that the more we focus on developing people's skills, responding to their needs, and teaching them to work as a team; the more we understand that administrative areas serve those in the "trenches" who manufacture or produce, the more commitment and interest these operators will show, which will positively impact the bottom line. “You will reap what you sow” ancient wisdom says…
Zero Loss through Small Groups
As a comprehensive management program, TPM brings the novelty of Small Autonomous GroupsThat is, self-directed groups, focused on results and self-monitoring of the most important variables of the processes and equipment under their control.
We understand that a group doesn't become autonomous by decree or because its boss orders it to. It takes time and learning to mature this new way of working. It requires the permission to practice and make mistakes. It requires the opportunity to learn from experience, reflect on it, and transform it into new and more effective work practices.
Many of our organizations use management models that fail to put people first. Many managers will claim that people are the most important thing, but organizational practices easily contradict them.
In our countries, companies often lack sufficient credibility among their employees, and these employees are not proud to work there. In such contexts, attempting to transfer a TPM practice without the necessary cultural adequacy It is a passport to failure.
In summary, we can say that there are two characteristics that lead to success: the correct implementation of the eight activities, the core of the methodology, commonly called the Eight Pillars and an adequate process of change management.
Therefore, a correct implementation of TPM starts with a correct development of the 5 “S”. Five “S” understood not as mere “order and cleanliness” but as the seed of the organizational changeAs an opportunity to demonstrate that the company's commitment to change is real and lasting.
Thus, by gradually involving people and showing a concrete commitment to their development, that same commitment will then be applied to the assets we want to optimize. As Stephen R. Covey said, We must treat our employees as we want them to treat our customers.. Paraphrasing the TPM, it will say: We must treat our employees as we want them to treat our assets.
TPM achieves a sense of pride and belonging through a very simple secret: Focus on people development and consistency between what is said and done.
The leader must become a facilitator, that is, the soul of the group. He or she facilitates learning and resources, not an authoritarian figure who must be obeyed without the possibility of dialogue. A leader who dictates everything that must be done prevents people from learning for themselves.
For TPM to work, managers must be the first to be convinced of the ideal, and the CEO must personally visit and provide positive feedback to the autonomous areas.
Without Personal Development there is no Organizational Development
Once, while sharing lunch with Professor Tokutaró Suzuki (former JIPM Vice Chairman), he expressed his concern about the American tendency to focus more on machines or tools than on people. He said: “TPM is a methodology for people development that uses equipment as teaching material.”
Only when the collaborators feel Those who are truly valued will unleash their enormous potential and put it at the service of the company. Thus, TPM will facilitate the company's transformation and competitiveness.
This is our vision of TPM. It's done "with" and "from" people, not "over" or "besides" them. That's why TPM isn't implemented, it's developed. As a Brazilian colleague said: you implant teeth. TPM must be made to grow. And this requires real involvement and visible commitment from senior management.
* Raúl A. Perez-Verzini is a certified TPM instructor from the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JPIM) with the number 723. He holds a Master's degree in Organizational Development and Behavior from Diego Portales University in Chile and is a Civil Engineer. He has been a consultant in Organizational Change and Continuous Improvement programs with an emphasis on TPM for over 20 years.
Further reading
TPM and Human Resources: Can we imagine one without the other?
Effective Companies and the Law of the Harvest
