What is TPM?
TPM or total productive management is a system which maintains and improves the production and quality systems. It evaluates the performance of machines, equipment, processes and employees to generate comprehensive and exhaustive analysis. It calculates time required for each process, to produce results which reflect the organization’s production capabilities. AIAG manuals can tell you more about the process, along with details pertinent to pull production for the shopfloor.
What does it do?
TPM seeks to increase productivity of equipment, by demanding a relatively smaller investment towards maintenance. It is usually considered to consist of eight pillars: focused improvement, autonomous maintenance, planned maintenance, quality maintenance, cost deployment, early equipment management, training and education and striving for a safe, healthy environment. It deploys the entire workforce towards a common mission, which is managing growth.
What is pull production?
It is a common occurrence in organizations, where final processes are ‘pulled’ from previous processes, which pull from the processes before it, and so on. This allows businesses to work without creating excesses and avoiding waste. This is also known to help with time management, as borrowing from prior processes can greatly save time and effort. It comes in handy typically when production is based on actual demand, as opposed to push production, in which case production is not based on actual demand.
What are the benefits of pull production?
One of the key advantages is that the pull production can work with a limited inventory, thereby saving you potentially huge costs in replenishing stocks. It follows a customer centric approach to service, where the consumer’s needs are prioritized over everything else. It follows a make-to-order pattern of business, and is generally known to improve cash flow.
However, one must insure that balanced systems are in place before incorporating pull production. Setup times tend to affect throughput and any glitches in the process will lead to customer dissatisfaction.
Pull production can go a long way in eliminating risk, wastage and unpredictability, provided it is implemented while exercising great caution.