Page 10 - TPM A Route to World-Class Performance

Foreword

The global market means we all have to reach world-class levels of performance.
Those of us that don’t will be left behind. Big or small, private or public;
there’s no hiding place from the winds of change.
That’s why the AEEU recognized the value of TPM some years ago. We
saw then that TPM could enable manufacturing and services industries to
become the best in the world.
Unlike TQM, which was conceptually sound, but patchy in outcome, TPM
offers a new and invigorating approach. Involving everyone from shopfloor
to boardroom, TPM is a team-based and freshly focused tool for success.
And it can really help Partnership work. In many ways, it’s the missing
link. TPM shows that cost reduction doesn’t just mean redundancy. Rather, it
offers the opportunity for managers and the workforce to share the gains
from reducing waste and boosting productivity and performance.
Two years ago, I launched a new initiative called ’Partners in Success’.
Built around the principles of TPM, it showed how unions and employers
could raise their game and then share the rewards. And that message hasn’t
changed.
And it’s a pleasure to recommend another WCS publication on TPM. The
AEEU has worked closely with Peter Willmott, Dennis McCarthy and others
for some time now. We’ve been spreading the TPM message - at the DTI,
throughout industry and at conferences and seminars in the UK and across
Europe.
That’s why this book will help organizations meet the challenges of the
new knowledge economy. It is a tool for change and a guide through new
markets. It ought to be on every practical manager’s bookshelf.

Sir Ken Jackson
General Secretary
AEEU