Page 239 - TPM A Route to World-Class Performance

Case studies 213

3M UK employs 4000 people in seventeen locations, with a tunover of
€600 &on. The 30-am Aycliffe site in County Durham employs 380 staff in
the manufacture and development of many types of disposable respirators
for sale around the world.
The 3M group is committed to a stringent environmental and ethical policy
and could be seen as having antiapated the empowering dture of Total
Productive Manufacturing (TPM) by its long-standing commitment to staff
development. Former 3M President, William McKnight, said in lus Philosophy
of Management paper in 1941:
Mistakes will be made, but if a person is essentially right, the
mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as
the mistakes management wdl make if it is dictatorial and
undertakes to tell those under its authority exactly how they
must do their job. Management that is destructively critical when
mistakes are made kills initiative, and it is essential that we
have people with initiative if we are to continue to grow.

2.0 Why TPM?

In 1994, an initiative called ’Training for Success’ highhghted seven areas
where there were clear opportunities to move forward: teamworhg,
continuous improvement, systems, people development, communication,
training and culture.
TPM provided the mortar to Link the seven building blocks of 3Ms own
programme and they therefore decided to adopt it across the site in 1995. It
is now the umbrella under which every other initiative hangs, embracing the
philosophy of continuous improvement.

3.0 Benefits

Overall
TPM at 3M Aycliffe is spearheaded by two members of staff - Site TPM
Facilitator and Engineering Specialist, Derek Codvane, and TPM Co-ordinator,
Derek Taylor.
Derek Cochrane sums up what TPM means for 3M: TPM involves everyone
at all times, workmg together to improve their equipment, processes and
methods and produce quality produds that will surpass OUT customers’
expectations. It promotes teamworking, training and people development
through its systematic approach of involvement and ownership.’
After originally workmg on three pilot areas, there are now four main
areas of the site, each managed by a dayshift group leader. Each area consists
of improvement zones and TPM core teams run by shift team leaders. Nearly
everyone on site has now had TPM general awareness training.