Page 258 - TPM A Route to World-Class Performance

232 TPM-A Route to World-Class Performance

function at Henkel was hampered by an over-complex organization structure.
The structure of the management team was therefore reduced from seven
layers to four and the Operations Manager united the two functions of
production and logistics.
On the shopfloor, production teams were organized by process rather than
function. Each team became multi-functional, including members from
planning, materials movement, warehousing and, of course, maintenance.
The core team was then supported by a number of key contacts from Quality,
Engineering, Design, Finance, Purchasing, R&D and Marketing.
Existing supervisors were developed into ten team leaders, where each
team leader is an integral part of the production team rather than simply
being another layer of management. Each team was then given a deputy to
support the team leader and to act as the team's trainer. Together the teams
and their key contacts can now focus on the elimination of losses across the
whole supply chain.

2.0 why TPM?

Says Gordon Hill: 'Many initiatives have made attempts at improving
productivity, but only one, TPM, provides a pragmatic approach that can be
understood by everyone at the grass-roots level: namely a continuous drive
to increase OEE.' Henkel found that another of the big strengths of OEE is
that it gives the ability to measure the cost of poor quality in monetary terms.
Continues Gordon: 'The OEE is at the heart of TPM. Many companies
believe that TPM is limited to being a maintenance department-driven initiative.
It can be, but it is much more effective to use TPM as a holistic approach to
equipment and operational effectiveness, involving finance, operators,
management and even administration staff.'
With the concept of the CMMS established, TPM was launched, via the
following stages, from June 1997
1 A pilot study, supported by leading TPM consultancy, WCS International,
helped Henkel to understand the impact and scope of TPM on
productivity improvements.
2 This was followed by a number of awareness presentations for all 240
staff members, giving an overview of TPM.
3 WCS then conducted key contact training for a number of middle
managers to give them a more in-depth understanding of TPM and to
gain their personal input and commitment to the process.
4 Finally, staff directly involved in the pilot project attended a four-day
hands-on workshop to experience everything that the teams would cover
in the following months. This gave a clear focus for future TPM activity.
5 The pilot was concluded with a feedback presentation at the end of 1997
and, because of the significant and measurable improvements achieved,
it was agreed that TPM would go live across the site in July 1998.