MAINTENANCESOLUTIONS

Lean implementation, step by step

Successful TPM program generates savings of $12 million.

T
Luc Proulx he maintenance leader is often the key Toyota, the high-volume, high-tech plant of
Prosygma Inc. to a successful, reliable, and perform- more than 750 workers was implementing
ing maintenance department, such as the Lean method. You could find evidence of
in the case we are studying here. But 5S in every corner of the shop. (See Figure
success never happens by pure luck. It is the 1). The result was an empowerment environ-
result of bold moves, relentless work, and ment for operators in which the decision-
believing in human empowerment to solve making process was delegated to the lowest
problems. level and the Lean model was integrated by
The following case study is one example of stabilizing the 4Ms: manpower, machine,
how that can be accomplished. We used the method, and material, which are the corner-
Lean A3 process and nomenclature to follow stones of the philosophy. (See Figure 2).
step by step the exact formula
to achieve results.
As is often the case in Lean
methodology, it is important
to follow each exact step.
Also, using the plan-do-
check-act (PDCA) cycle to
attain goals ensures reach-
ing the optimum solution
and maximum success with
the tools at hand.
At the various phases of
the project, we integrated
total productive maintenance
(TPM) elements or tweaked
old ones that were already
in place, but we also closely
monitored the process over
a three-year period and its
impact on the crucial KPIs for
the business: percent uptime
(versus the more negative
term of percent downtime),
MTTR (mean time to repair),
MTBF (mean time between
failures), and maintenance
response time (MRT) to
emergency work order. Figure 1: A map of the Lean A3 process,
which creates a step-by-step formula. All
Background graphics courtesy: Prosygma
In the early 2000s, the production unit in
question embraced the Lean manufacturing With the pressure of producing and main-
philosophy, which is an adaptation of the taining improvement trends each budgeted
Japanese just-in-time philosophy described year (cost reduction, productivity, health and
in a book written by James Womack in safety (H&S), percent uptime, and quality)
1990. Adopting the value-added philosophy and competing in the global arena for higher
developed in the dire years after WWII by volume and technologically advanced equip-

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mAINTENANCESOLUTIONS
Figure 2: The corner store
of the Lean model is the
4Ms: manpower, machine,
method, and material.
94 November 2014 plant engineering
ment (to sustain those KPIs), management
had to focus its attention on the maintenance
side of the business since the gap between
production and maintenance support was
widening. Managements decision was to
pursue total assets management instead of
focusing solely on maintenance reactive
intervention or even spot improvements.
Current conditions
The maintenance department was composed
of skilled workers split in two trades, where
all the support services jobselectricity,
plumbing, cleaning, tribologywere handled
by outside contractors. This created an envi-
ronment of mistrust with the in-house full-
time employees establishing a second-class
citizenship role for the outsiders. It produced
a silo-type environment where everything
was connected by arduous communication
lines and where projects were handled by
young engineers whose loose monitoring of
projects was significantly affecting the bud-
get and day-to-day maintenance operations.
H&S rules were documented, implement-
ed, and disseminated, but human behaviors
were not following the same path, and with
the morale of the workers at its lowest point,
problems were on the horizon.
Other impeding problems were that the
servicing of critical machines was controlled
by production people driven only by daily
throughput numbers, the average age of main-
tenance workers was more than 45 years, and
new machines kept arriving with equipment
standards decided by the head office thousands
of miles away.
On the bright side, efforts had been made
years before to implement computerized main-
tenance management system (CMMS)
software, prepare a solid PM plan,
and reorganize a MRO store. How-
ever, the necessary links had not been
established between projects, result-
ing in a spot improvement process.
The reliability and maintenance
organizational roles were also unclear
as to who was responsible for super-
vising, planning, analyzing, or coor-
dinating.
Analysis
The first couple of weeks into the
project were dedicated to data min-
ing and patching holes. For emer-
gency planning, we had to redefine
the 24-hour service of each depart-
ment and the weekend overlap. The next step
was to reorganize the next shutdown (to cut
it from one week to one weekend) and to get
a simple message out to the team: TPM for
all and we will have the best maintenance.
Our analysis provided the following input:
1. Machine criticality level was attrib-
uted by production people who were
more aware of their own numbers than
the overall budgeted plan. We found
out that everything was treated at the
highest level at all times, which even-
tually resulted in eliminating the sense
of urgency.
2. The other related issues were that the
MRT for an emergency work order was
going up and was taking a major bite
out of the MTTR.
3. Technical maintenance issues were
sometimes handled by floor production
people as part of the empowerment pro-
cess, which was creating lots of com-
plaints since people with maintenance
experience had not been consulted.
4. The percent uptime was 94.2% with a
negative outlook, and all the machines
were at the same level of critical-
ity, including Kleenex machines (e.g.,
machines with a short life span, low
acquisition cost, and high maintenance
costs at the end of their effective life
span) that should have been disposed
of but were still in use.
5. H&S rules were becoming tougher to
apply and to follow and, at the same
time, buy-in and behaviors were fol-
lowing a downward spiral as mainte-
nance employee morale followed the
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 same trend.
6. A higher volume of parts produced for
the best budget figures and thus main-
taining jobs for everyone was equated
with operational costs going down, but
the maintenance department was consid-
ered an impediment at best when it was
time to be part of the solution.
7. Even worse, the percent plan/unplan
trends of hours worked in the last six
years indicated system deterioration.
After an early increase in the first years
of the TPM implementation, it was now
going the wrong way. The best-in-class
follows the 80/20 pattern, but in this
case almost the reverse was true. (See
Figure 3).
Audit schedule done with different Figure 3: The percent plan/
Goals rotating members each month for unplan chart shows less
The project had numerous goals, but the every department, room, tool chest, planned maintenance in
main ones were to: and workshop. the three years before the
2. Training project.
Increase maintenance efficiency to help Each type of work order (WO) is com-
production absorb 40% more production pleted and recorded, which provides a bet-
volume in the next three years. ter understanding of employee weaknesses
Improve employee morale, empower- and strengths.
ment and involvement. Twice a year, workers are evaluated on
Implement real-time machine problem value buy-in and performance and given
monitoring and develop KPIs (MTTR, an improvement plan to follow.
percent uptime, and MTR) to achieve TPM and 5S+1 training is given to every-
best- in-class numbers. one.
Develop autonomous maintenance on Each employee has to participate in
critical machines. Kaizen activities (5S+1, cell layout,
Improve H&S behaviors and bring the quality, etc.).
accident rate close to zero. 3. CMMS
Integrate the TPM concept into the work- Lead KPIs established and monitored
shop, training, and meeting discussions. closely on a weekly basis (percent uptime, Figure 4: Prosygmas TPM
Keep the message simple, but hammer MTTR, TTR and MTBF). system rests on nine pillars
it home all the time. Real-time data recording of all critical of improvement.
machine breakdowns.
Countermeasures
The generic name for the main countermea-
sures was TPM, but that overall solution
has nine different pillars (on a solid 5S + 1
foundation) to implement, and each of those
has to be monitored on a daily basis. (See
Figure 4).
Each pillar had its own committee and its own
action plan deployed over a three-year period

1. 5S + 1(Safety)
Integrate concept by holding 5S + 1
Kaizen workshops every month for the
first year.
Audit process put in place to monitor
progress and sustainment over the next
two years.

www.plantengineering.com plant engineering November 2014 95

mAINTENANCESOLUTIONS
Figure 5: The TPM imple- Assessment of machine criticality and
mentation roadmap. prioritization every quarter.
Everything has to be recorded in
one of the nine types of work orders.
4. Emergency maintenance
Task the team assigned to each shift to
take care of work order emergencies.
Real-time (electronic andon board) data
to help plan and respond to work order
emergencies.
Coordinator in place to track day-to-
day progress.
5. Corrective maintenance
Task a team of experienced workers only
Figure 6: The improvement on the day shift.
in maintenance response Engineers help determine original root
time began after Prosygma causes failure mode effects analyssc and
overcame resistance to cul- criticality (FMEAC) and gather techni-
ture change. cal knowledge from coworkers.
96 November 2014 plant engineering
The MRO store will be
Lean-ified and the critical
spare parts list revisited.
6. Autonomous maintenance
Access to real-time tracking
of emergency calls for each
operator (electronic andon
board).
Each production line takes
care of its own machine
according to 5S, priority
level assertion, and basic
needs (clean, check, oil pro-
gram in place).
An autonomous inspection
routine is established for
each critical machine.
One operator is delegated
by line to be trained and
coached by the maintenance
planner.
Key concept of TPM imple-
mented: Help chain to record any problems
detected by operator on equipment.
7. Preventive maintenance
A machine binder, documentation, and
calendar board were already in place.
They were replaced by an electronic
format within a year.
Planning was improved by dividing tasks
between the maintenance planner (PdM,
PM, projects) and the coordinator (emer-
gency, H&S, training, minor).
The CMMS planning tool was custom
made for better level loading of the
PM calendar.
8. Predictive maintenance
Analysis monitoring was improved with
the tribology expert.
The vibration routine was reorganized.
The machine calibration routine was
re-established with knowledge trans-
fer to a younger employee.
9. Optimization
Gradual transfer of manpower to opti-
mization task team, Lean R&D, automa-
tion and single-minute exchange of die
(SMED) teams.
Integration of engineering into each
project for budget control, planning, and
results tracking.
All new engineers have to be trained
in maintenance TPM philosophy
before going to other departments.
10. Prevention design
Years 23: Implementation of Kobe Tsu
Kaizen team.
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 First study performed using
FMECA as reliability centered
maintenance (RCM) choice tool.
Standards for new M/C acquisition
drawn up.
Safety guarding rules integrated
into each new design.

Plan
The plan was prepared for the next
three years according to the Toyota
typical TPM roadmap and re-evaluated
every year based on the production
volume, new technology, and market
demand. (See Figure 5).
You can see in the next graph that the
roadmap worked out almost perfectly
for the entire project. However, a big factor guard, process change, or even redesign Figure 7: By Year 4, uptime
was overlooked at the outset of the imple- of a machine). for critical machines was
mentation phase: culture change resistance. Also, after benchmarking, we launched consistently above 98%.
The graph below shows a deterioration of an audit process that was prepared, con-
response time by workers in the first three trolled, and applied by the workers them-
quarters just as the percent uptime was selves. It took six months before the work-
improving. People were reluctant to scan ers became accustomed to it, but it gave
their badges when taking care of an emer- the project a zero accident record over the
gency work order, because they felt that by next 1,000 days.
showing improvement their jobs would be in By taking care of the human side of
jeopardy. Coupled with H&S problems (six our projectcommunications (everyday
accidents in half a year), it almost derailed roll call, mandatory participation in all
the whole project. See Figure 6. Kaizen training, evaluation, help ticket),
You should never underestimate the behaviors, and self-auditwe had more
strength of inertia and remember that H&S leverage for delivering the performance
problems are never solved by drawing up a message.
list of technical problems to be addressed. A As Figure 7 illustrates, the Percent
managers soft skills are needed to improve Uptime exceeded 98.8% at the end of the
readiness to change and H&S issues require project.
behavioral changes. The actual production time savings eval-
uated and stamped by the finance depart-
Monitoring ment were 99,000 hours for close to $12M
The lead KPIs were the same from start to in savings over three years.
finish, but the action taken was adapted
to the situation. Basic Cost $120/hr.
The first thing to do was to evaluate Year Uptime % Increase Hours Worked Recuperated Hours Benefit ($)
worker behavior before we even talked
0 94.2% 0.0% 783,000 14,000 1,680,000
about performance and WO completion.
It led to an evaluation form that was more 1 96.0% 1.8% 1,075,000 42,000 5,040,000
closely aligned with TPM values and bet- 2 98.1% 3.9% 1,025,000 43,000 5,160,000
ter H&S behaviors.
3 98.4% 4.2% 2,883,000 99,000 11,880,000
At the same time, we prepared the usual
list of technical problems encountered
by the workers and the impact on their The quality assurance department even
H&S, asking them to do a daily check of decided to follow our lead by benchmark-
everything that they considered awkward ing the Andon technology and carrying
or risky. The thinking behind it was that, out the same process with the operators. PE
after identifying the problem, 99% of the
time a behavior has to change before we Luc Proulx is with Quebec, Ontario-based
make any technical changes (machine Prosygma Inc.

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