For manufacturing businesses, the biggest waste that always exists is redundancy. These are redundant, time-consuming operations that do not bring certain value to creating products.
For example, when workers put their tools in the wrong or inconvenient place, they will waste time moving to find the tools to operate. Thus, this is a waste of time. Therefore, to overcome this waste, businesses should apply 5S or TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) tools to place production tools in convenient locations during the worker's operation, eliminating redundant time, increasing labor productivity, and making the worker's work process convenient and easy.
According to experts from the Vietnam Productivity Institute (National Committee for Standards, Metrology and Quality), another waste that needs to be eliminated is waiting waste. Waiting is the time when workers and machines are idle due to bottlenecks or inefficient production flows.
The delay between each batch of product manufacturing is also considered a waste of waiting time. Waiting significantly increases labor costs, depreciation on each product unit is also increased. There are many reasons for waiting such as waiting for raw materials not to arrive, waiting for KCS to complete inspection, waiting for drawings, waiting for technical instructions, waiting for production orders, etc. These waiting times are a phenomenon of unsynchronized management. Therefore, businesses need to eliminate this waste so that the production line can operate better by applying TPM or Lean tools.
According to analysts, waste in the production process manifests itself in many forms such as: The maintenance department needs to buy special spare parts to repair the machine, the approval process goes through many stages and the people involved, from the Maintenance Manager, Technical Manager, Purchasing Manager, Chief Accountant and Deputy Sales Director. Suppose one of the above managers is absent, they have to wait, while the machine is down for an hour, which costs money.
Or a worn fixture causes the worker to have to readjust each time the item is placed on the machine, wasting time and increasing costs. Machine adjustment is an activity that does not create added value, the longer the adjustment time, the more production time is lost, causing waste.
Product inspection is necessary but does not create added value. If the QC cannot check in time, the production line will have to stop, causing waiting and waste. Unusual machine breakdowns interrupt production, using machines with low OEE is also wasteful...
To solve the above waste, manufacturing enterprises should apply TPM tools. Because TPM operates with the purpose of bringing high production efficiency, uninterrupted operations and work, and being able to respond to maintenance quickly, the production process, work more proactively, and prevent equipment failures to the maximum. Implementing TPM will create a production environment without mechanical failures and technical disruptions, showing the importance of regular equipment maintenance and maintenance.
The goal of TPM is to optimize the performance of machinery and equipment of companies and businesses. In short, the goal of TPM is summarized in "4 no's": No machine downtime; No waste; No loss; No accidents.
