As the quest for Lean Manufacturing spreads along the value and supply chains, WIP (Work-In-Progress) and throughput times are sent dwindling in all factories around the world.

And with them, the safety buffers that we were used to.

The chains have actually become so lean and tight that any hiccup or mishap is now a serious concern, threatening to collapse this neatly arranged castle of cards.

Top of the list among the Damocles' swords are process variation (rejects) and equipment failure (breakdowns).

With production schedules tuned to a couple of hours, the jammed bearing that brings the whole production line to a halt in the midst of the nightshift is the daily nightmare of every Operations Manager.

Then, when companies turn to business partners for support, they may question the cost-effectiveness of TPM programmes offered by consultants, and be deterred by sub-contractors favouring emergency repairs that come with a higher non-negotiated premium.

To alleviate this potential conflict of interest, we have therefore designed a pragmatic TPM scheme that factors in the reduction of overall maintenance costs through continuous improvement.

This scheme addresses the challenging technical complexity in a simple and comprehensive framework that gradually switches the corporate culture

• from emergency repairs (uncontrolled expenses, unexpected downtime),
• to preventive maintenance (budgeted expenses, scheduled downtime).