Strategy to Achieve Zero Breakdown Through TPM

*T. Vidyasagar and Vijay Mantri*JK Paper Mills, Jaykaypur, Rayagada, Orissa

ABSTRACTThe paper focuses on maintenance practices being followed at JK Paper Mills to achieve zero breakdown.The methodology followed is known as Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). This also discusses the roleand responsibilities of operators and maintenance crew, changes in training methodology, workpractices and application of Autonomous Maintenance by operational crew instead of traditional maintenancedepartment.

INTRODUCTION

Globalization and open economic policy have forced theorganizations to give a fresh look at their existingoperations. both in terms of practices and efficiency.Radical changesl improvement in both is the order ofthe day for the very existence. Aspirational goals andsuperlative operational performance can only keep thethreat of extinction at bay.

In a typical process industry, the production functionis given prime importance and the maintenance functionis given fairly low priority in the organizationalefficiency. However, tremendous emphasis has been puton maintenance in the recent past and significant changesand developments have taken place in this field includinghigh technology and modern scientific approach. TotalProductivity Maintenance is .one such scientificapproach. which is not only innovative and methodicalbut also a highly focused approach to the whole conceptof ~ipment maintenance.Total productive maintenanceTPM aims at :-

Maximizing overall equipment effectiveness (OEE)by eliminating various losses.Improving equipment reliability andmaintainabilityAchieving the most economical Life Cycle Cost(LCC) of equipment.Developing equipment conscious operators andCreating an enthusiastic work environment.

TPM brings a radical change in workplace andprovides a mechanism for achieving zero breakdowns,zero defects and zero accidents. The focus centers onOverall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), which is aproduct of equipment availability rate, performance rate

,and quality rate. The whole concept of AutonomousMaintenance (Jishu Hozen) is based on how to enhancethese parameters significantly so as to provide a cuttingedge to the organizational performance.

Availability rateEquipment availability is an important factor formeasuring OEE. Machine stoppage for any reasonadversely affects availability and therefore, loss ofproduction. The rate of availability is calculated asunder.

ITotal calendar hours-stoppage hours lAvailability in %= i • x 100 !

L Total calendar hours '

Performance rateStandard production: Rated capa,city of the machine fora given product.

Actual production: Actual quantity produced.

The ratio of actual production to standard productionis the performance rate and is calculated as under.

! Actual production l. Performance rate in % = i t x 100

iStandard production ~L

Quality rateIt is measured as the ratio of accepted product conformingto quality standards to that of total quantity producedand calculated as under.

ITotal quantity produced-quantity not conforming to qltyj:-'Quality = II . '. x 100

rate in % ~ Total quantity produced

OEE in % = Availability rate X Performance RateX Quality rate

To increase availability, elimination of equipmentbreakdowns is important. TPM system has a directionfor this. It encompasses all the key aspects of

IPPTA J, Vol 15. No 3, July 2003 101

maintenance (reactive. preventive, productive, correctiveand so forth). It emphasizes the role of machine operatorsand their involvement in upkeeping the machinecondition. Machine operators accept new responsibilities,such as daily maintenance checks, minor adjustments,lubrication and minor part changes and thereby owningthe equipment. This paper focuses on approach of 1.K.Paper Mills towards zero breakdowns.

JKPM initiated TPM during July 2000. Initially,three machines were selected, namely Chipper, PaperMachine-I and Wills cutter-I. These machines are calledmodel machines for TPM implementation. At modelmachines, engineers of process, maintenance andrespective departments heads carried out autonomousmaintenance activity. This involves thorough cleaningof machines. identification of abnormalities, developingand implementing counter measures for theabnormalities. While performing this activity executivesbecome more familiar with autonomous maintenance.

After successful implementation of autonomousmaintenance activity at these model machines. similarTPM activity was extended to other machines where.all employees were involved in autonomous maintenanceactivity under the guidance of executive who had gainedexperience at model machines. These activities werefocused on bringing equipment to its basic conditions.This is the first step towards Zero breakdowns. Followingsix key activities are followed on TPM guidelines inpursuit of our Zero breakdowns.

Bring equipment to basic conditions

Cleaning. lubrication, tightening etc. are the basicconditions for any equipment. Equipment deteriorationis of two types, accelerated and natural. Thesedeteriorations lead to breakdowns. The accelerationdeterioration arises when equipment's basic conditionsare not maintained where as natural deterioration occursdue to equipment inherent life span, corrosion, changesin the properties of material etc. To prevent accelerateddeterioration, we have to restore equipment basiccondition, by eliminating various hidden abnormalities,which are generally classified in to seven categories.The examples of abnormalities are given in Table 1.

During thorough cleaning activity, we has identifiedmore than 32000 abnormalities of which about 70% arerectified immediately and remaining during plantshutdowns. Fig. 1 shows categorywise number ofabnormalities identified till March 2003.

By rectifying abnormalities we have restoredequipment basic conditions. This resulted in reduction

.f!i!iil!iil--------- . ------

Fig. 1: Classification of Abnormalities

Table 1

Abnormalities Examples

Minor Flaws

Unfulfilled basicconditionsInaccessible locations

Contamination sources

Quality defect sources

Unnecessary items

. Unsafe places

• Contaminations like dirt, dust and bad paint.• Damaged/crushed/bend parts• Slackness of belts, chains• Abnormal phenomena like noise, vibration, smell• Insufficient lubricant, leakage of oil, contaminated lubricant.• Loose, long, crushed nut bolt, washers• Fixed machine covers, machine parts difficult to approach, gauges

difficult to read due to orientation/layout• Leaks/ spills! overflows- of air, gases, steam, water• Flashes/chips, and non-conforming products• Contaminants brought in by people, fork-lift trucks• Product damages during manufacturing, variations in dimensions.• Pumps/fans/compressors, columns, tanks, Pipes, valves• Temperatures/ pressure gauges, vacuum gauges, ammeters• Wiring, piping, switches, plugs, cutting tools, jigs, dies, frames• Sharp projections• Too steep, irregular, corrosion, missing handrails• Broken covers/ladders not properly fixed• Toxic gases/chemicals

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4

..

•

•.

of number of breakdowns. Fig. 2 below indicates monthwise breakdown trend. Breakdown data of 2000-2001is the benchmark indicating the status prior to TPM.

3V 3211

Fig. 2: Breakdowns due to poor basic conditions

., Eliminating accelerated deterioration bycomplying with conditions of use

Any equipment is designed to work at certain operatingconditions like pressure. viscosities. temperature, speedetc and if the equipment is operated at abnormalconditions. it will lead to accelerated deterioration and(generally) shorten their lifespan with unexpectedbreakdowns. To eliminate deterioration, as per guidanceof process engineer. operators ensure strict adherenceof the set operating conditions fixed by section in chargesalong with maintenance engineers.

Fig. 3: Breakdowns due to abnormal operatingconditions

Fig. 3 indicates month wise number of breakdownsresulted due to abnormal operating conditions.Monitoring and maintaining the set conditions haveachieved the reduction in trend on number ofbreakdowns.

,.

Restore equipments to its optimal condition byarresting deterioration

It is very important to monitor and measure the degreeof natural deterioration. This deterioration is a gradualform of deterioration due to equipment inherent lifespan. changes in the properties of material, corrosionetc. It is natural that over a period, some parts ofequipment will deteriorate due to wear & tear.

At JKPM. to optimize equipment conditions, variouspipelines, tanks. spare parts etc are replaced with bettermaterial. In some areas, Condition Based maintenancesystem adopted to analyse degree of deterioration andremedial action was planned. Actual. replacement

•

r

initiated during planned shutdowns.

Eleminating environmental conditions causingaccelerated deterioration

If shop floor environment is filled with dirt, dust, pulp.powder etc and equipments parts are covered with suchcontaminants, it is difficult to inspect (oil level gauges,loose bolts, V-belts & chains conditions) andenvironment like this will be perfect breeding groundfor accelerated deterioration.

TPM activity is focused to expose these parts, identifysources of contaminations and take counter measures(through kaizens) to eliminate these sources. AT JKPM.about 500 numbers of such sources are identified andrectified through kaizens. Places where it is difficult toinspect, difficult to lubricate are also made accessiblethrough Kaizens. Table 2 below shows different sourcesof contaminations identified at various locations of theplant.

Lengthen equipment lifetime by correctingdesign defects

Operating equipments under stressful conditions, suchas high speed, high load and frequent stops and start-ups, results in breakdown due to shaft breakage, bearingdamage etc. ensuring the correct load, temperature andconditions of use are not enough to eliminate suchbreakdowns. It is necessary to change such designdefects, like dimension of the shaft or bearings etc.Without correcting design defects it will be difficult toeliminate such breakdowns. Fig. 4 below indicatesbreakdowns of equipments at JKPM due to designdefects. By rectifying design defects, breakdown camedown drastically. At JKPM every failure is considereda valuable learning aid that teaches us about theweaknesses. A through failure analysis helped us inlengthening equipment life cycle.

Eliminate unexpected breakdown by developingequipment conscious operators

Even when equipments are extremely reliable,unexpected breakdowns may still occur as a result of

Table 2

Source of contaminations Numbers oflocations

Steam leakages 215Water leakages 105Oil & grease 128Powder spillages 24Wood chips spillages 12Dust (wood, coal) 15Pulp 31

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50 43ft) 40 I0 30 'lft~Z 20 .::::>.:;:

10 '~~!:J

0 ·t:~~

MonthFig. 4: Breakdowns due to design defects

operating and repair errors. Equipment consciousoperators playa critical role in eliminating errors. Todevelop equipment conscious operator, training onfollowing four skills were imparted.

Ability to identify abnormalities

Any operator can recognize an abnormality, once itresults to a breakdown. Where as equipment consciousoperator' can forcecast impending breakdown throughdaily and periodic checks of equipments, which heperforms as a ritual. This develops his capability toidentify abnormalities or malfunctions of equipmentbefore they le~d to eventual breakdown.

Ability to respond to abnormalities

Being able to identify abnormalities is not enough, heshould be able to discover the cause for abnormalitiesand rectify the same. If he cannot rectify the problemsdue to.complexity of maintenance skill required on thatspecific case, then he should be able to report the problemaccurately to his superiors or to the maintenance staff.

Ability to set optional equipments conditions

Operator should be able to understand and distinguishnormal and abnormal operating conditions. He shouldhave the capability to determine (quantitatively) theconditions or the criteria that indicates whether theequipment vital parts are functioning normally or not.He should have ability to understand the relation betweenequipment set operating conditions and quality of theoutput.

Abjlity to maintain equipment basic conditions

Operator should be able to perform daily and periodicpreventive maintenance activities like cleaning (toeliminate dust and dirt) lubrication (to prevent wearand burnouts) and tightening of bolts nuts etc (to preventmalfunctions & breakages). All operators shouldcultivate these four abilities to maintain equipment basiccondition. Maintaining equipment basic condition meanseliuunating the causes of accelerated deterioration. The

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above creates opportunity for maintenance departmenttechnicians to focus on specialized maintenance activitiesto improve reliability and maintainability of equipment.They are trained to acquire new skills. They developa culture of performing a job precisely with accuracy.To develop equipment conscious operator, JKPMdeveloped various skill development modules to trainthe operators and maintenance technicians. This trainingis inclusive of both on the job and off the job.

CONCLUSION

Zero breakdown is no longer a hypothesis nor it is anelusive or difficult task and J.K. Paper Mills is slowlybut surely progressing towards zero breakdown. Initialteething problems are nearly solved. Executives andworkmen are witnessing the improvement and areconvinced with TPM system. This system also helpsdeveloping operators, process engineers andmaintenance technicians. This partnership helps for along-term approach to machine performance, rather thanjust fixing problems. Additionally records reveal thatabout 18% reductions in lubrication consumption,increasing trend in number of kaizens, reduction innumber of accidents have been a reality. All these alsocontributed to remarkable improvement in housekeepingand creating enthusiastic work environment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Authors would like to thank Sri S.K. Mishra, ChiefExecutive (Works) for encouragement to present thispaper in IPPTA zonal seminar, July 2003.

REFERENCES

1. Chandan Chowdhury Arun P Patil (Mrs.) Udyog PragatiVol.No 4,32 (1994).

2. Arun Maity, Udyog Pragati Vol. 26 No. 24 (2002):

3. rPM for process industries, Productivity Press. (1994).