Roy Davis

Senior Consultant

MCP Consulting and Training

training@mcpeurope.com

UK

Autonomous Maintenance is recognized as one of the main building blocks of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). Operator Asset Care (OAC) was initially developed from the principles of Autonomous Maintenance and migrated from Japan during the late 1980’s. Since then, a number of different OAC approaches have been developed by individual organizations and industrial companies and this has provided some different interpretations of the original principles and many different implementation approaches, some successful and some not.

Operator Asset Care is an essential part of the ‘world class’ approach to maximize the effectiveness of operational assets and processes within companies. It not only addresses maintenance but all aspects of the operation of manufacturing facilities and at its very heart lies in the motivation and enhancement of company personnel.

Why OAC

• It has a definite role to play in sharing the responsibility for the condition and performance of machinery and equipment and also by improving machinery condition, which will have the effect of considerably reducing the amount of breakdowns and stoppages.
• It will bring about a change in the traditional attitude of “I operate the machinery, you fix it!” by promoting the local team and making the maintenance of machinery condition everyone’s responsibility.
• It is an approach that enables traditional maintenance practices to change from re-active to proactive by sharing responsibility for machinery condition, performance and maintenance.
• It also provides a number of mechanisms whereby breakdowns and stoppages are analysed, the causes investigated and action taken to prevent further problems.

Shop floor personnel should take an active part in developing the Operator Asset Care tasks.

Safety during maintenance is an important aspect of company diligence.

Preventative maintenance schedules can be made more meaningful and effective as a result of the integrated approach of all production and maintenance personnel, the information gathered and the used measures of performance.

Also, OAC will “free up” maintenance professionals and allow them the time required to carry out more complex, preventative maintenance tasks and engineering improvements. It will enable very effective maintenance systems to be developed and operated as an integral part of manufacturing operations.

It should also be viewed as part of a continuous improvement or ‘Kaizen’ programme. Its whole approach promotes the gradual development and improvement of company performance and the work place small shop floor based improvements. OAC teams focus on their facilities and all aspects of the machinery that they operate or support, their operational processes and their working environment, some of the basic principles are listed below:

• Our manufacturing facilities are very important as they: enable the company to earn income and enable us to carry out part of the operations process.
• If facilities are not available, or are not operating correctly and consistently then the performance of the company is diminished.
• The best people to look after and improve manufacturing facilities are the people who operate and set them up in conjunction with maintenance personnel.
• Typically 60 % or more of breakdowns, stoppages or quality problems are caused by a lack of basic maintenance such as loose fasteners, poor adjustment and poor lubrication.
• Dirty conditions are a major cause of failure – they accelerate wear and deterioration.
• Cleaning and ‘localisation’ of routine maintenance tasks can through OAC can detect and prevent at least 70 % of all causes of breakdowns, stoppages and quality problems. At the very heart of all of these activities is the involvement and enhancement of people at all levels in the business but most specifically the OAC team members.

What You Need to Succeed

If OAC is to be successful within any business there is a need to take on board not only the practices and techniques already described but also the essential philosophy:

• Team working
• Motivation of people at all levels
• Participation and encouragement
• Positive leadership and support
• Opportunity for people to acquire and enhance skills and experience, to develop to their full potential.
• Continuous improvement, always striving to do better.
• Recognition of effort and providing incentives.

Implementation

OAC is not very costly to implement, it does not usually require any large sums of capital but it is not easy and should not be perceived as a short-term measure. It will not work unless the implementation programme is given the whole hearted backing of the management team in terms of actions, not just words. The commitment of everyone in the business and the substantial benefits which reward this may take years to achieve, but many benefits can be realised from day one of the implementation. It is not a difficult concept to understand and its practices and techniques are all quite straightforward and logical. It is however, the change in attitudes and values accompanying the change in working practices that can be more difficult to grasp and implement.

Most Common Mistakes

• If it is a separate initiative set up by just one department
• Poor communication/rivalry between operations and maintenance and shift teams
• Lack of management buy-in
• Lack of planning, OAC can mean different things to different people so it is a key requirement to define and scope the programme.
• Not introducing a pilot programme first
• LACK OF TRAINING.

Introducing OAC to the Business

The key to the introduction of OAC to any business lies in the effectiveness of communications. The principles, techniques and implications of applying it within the business must be explained to personnel at all levels via a structured communications programme. It is often necessary to involve some external, ‘independent’ party to provide awareness training, facilitation expertise, advice, skills training and to support the early implementation. The development and delivery of a communications exercise is well worth the time and effort required to smooth the way of the initial implementation and remove any industrial relations ‘hurdles’ which may otherwise be encountered.

Getting Started

It is best to select one or more ‘pilot’ or ‘demonstrator’ areas on the factory floor as a vehicle for implementing OAC in the business. It is advisable that the demonstrator is launched very soon after the communications programme has been completed.

It is very important that the personnel involved are ‘on board’ with the programme and, depending upon the prevailing culture, it may be necessary to carry out a condition appraisal of their machinery as an initial stage of the programme. This will enable the condition of the machinery to be established so that any actions required to restore it to a reasonable operating condition can be planned and implemented. This will have the dual effect of not only improving machinery reliability and performance but also of illustrating the benefit of this concept to shop floor personnel and obtaining ‘buy in’.

Local shop floor personnel should take an active part in reviewing or developing the operator asset care tasks that are required in order to maintain and improve the condition and performance of their machinery. The resulting tasks and schedules should be produced in a user-friendly format that can be easily understood by all production personnel. Training needs can then be identified and specific skills training put in place.

Benefits

We have established that OAC enables a cost effective maintenance regime to be developed and operated effectively and integrates the activities of production and maintenance personnel. It brings a different approach to maintenance and encourages a change in attitude that benefits everyone within the company. Working within a reactive maintenance, the “I operate, you fix” environment can be very stressful to production and maintenance people alike. It breeds despondency, apathy and a feeling of not being in control of the work/workplace and it leads to a great deal of waste.

OAC has been tried and tested over many years, in many industry sectors and in many parts of the world and an overwhelming body of evidence proves that it does work. It makes manufacturing businesses more competitive, changes the working environment for the better, encourages and enhances people.

The whole approach is based upon the motivation, participation and enhancement of factory floor personnel, allowing them to have some control over their own working environment. Factory floor personnel are encouraged to look after ‘their’ machinery and ‘their’ equipment/tools and to actively participate in the improvement of production methods and processes. They are trained and developed to realise their full potential and recognised for their contribution towards making the business more competitive and profitable. OAC brings considerable benefits to factory floor personnel both in terms of an improved working environment and enhancement of their skills and personal attributes.

Any business that applies OAC in a thorough and committed manner can expect to achieve the benefits described in this section especially when allied to the effective application of other maintenance tools and techniques. Change is always difficult and people are naturally apprehensive about changing the way in which they work; their working environment and relationships with colleagues.

The changes that take place will be proven to be logical and will be recommended, not by some outsiders, but by people from all areas within the company.

Operator Asset Care makes manufacturing businesses more competitive, changes the working environment for the better and encourages and enhances people.

Summary

For a manufacturing business to succeed, machinery and equipment and personnel on the factory floor must operate as effectively as possible, enabling the business to achieve the best return on each capital asset. The best people to look after and improve machinery and equipment assets are the people who operate, set up and maintain them. OAC is a proven approach to the achievement of effective machinery and equipment as it:

• is part of Continuous Improvement
• addresses all aspects of operational processes and facilities
• allows the vicious circle of reactive operations/maintenance to be broken
• relieves maintenance personnel from routine tasks and a large proportion of reactive maintenance
• provides a framework for company-wide improvements
• motivates and enhances personnel
• brings about a profound change in the culture of the business
• makes it a nicer place to work and a more competitive business.

OAC is a key part of any asset management, maintenance or manufacturing improvement programme and is complimentary to other improvement techniques and approaches, is compatible with other maintenance tools and techniques and is an enabling mechanism that ensures maintenance best practices can be achieved.