TPM for America: What It Is and Why You Need It

Gaining a hidden edge through improved maintenance

Maintenance can account for as much as 40 percent of manufacturing costs; yet, many manufacturers still fail to recognize the value of making total productive maintenance (TPM) an integral part of their strategy.

Written specifically for American manufacturers by an American TPM practitioner and educator, this book provides a succinct account of TPM’s evolution into the most effective maintenance approach in the history of manufacturing. The author surveys the current status of TPM implementation in the United States and challenges American manufacturers to overhaul their current maintenance procedures and by doing so, improve their capacity to stay competitive in the world market.

He discusses the steps needed to breakdown the cultural resistance that can impede needed change, from initiation to implementation to institutionalization. He then explains the various facets that make up an overall maintenance strategy including predictive, corrective, and preventative maintenance, as well as ways to make many of these functions automated. With a fully implemented TPM program, organizations can anticipate maintenance needs and build a plan that will eradicate all but a fraction of their associated costs, and in doing so, dramatically improve the bottom line.