Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
Efficiency increase and cost reduction in the clay brick and tile industry – Part I: Knowledge base
TPM is not about the maintenance and production departments alone; it is about the organization as a whole. The successful introduction of TPM requires system thinking and a holistic approach. Basic principles and system approaches are described. The step-by-step implementation of Total Productive Maintenance will be addressed in Part 2 of this paper to be published in one of the following issues of Zi Brick and Tile Industry International.
1 Introduction
The quality of a product, its appearance and the supplier’s capability to deliver added value customer services are prime requirements to succeed in an increasingly competitive environment. The vast majority of clay brick and tile producers meet these requirements: products conform to or even exceed norms, marketing and service tools are in place to meet the demands of the entire distribution system.
With everything else being equal, it is the final shelf price that largely determines the decision-maker’s preference for one or the other product. Through the development of very...
