Early Equipment Management

Abstract

ABC Company is a leading supplier and manufacturer of food ingredients, additives, functional chemicals, and specialty blending equipment. ABC is a wholly owned subsidiary of XYZ, a Dutch based company. XYZ purchased Unilever’s European Bakery supply division in 2000. Unilever had several plants heavily involved in the implementation of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). XYZ became aware of the benefits first-hand after the acquisition and began executing the philosophy at several plants in the states. The benefits included plants that were more organized, had stronger maintenance departments, and a team-oriented, problem solving workforce. The company chose their Kansas Avenue dry ingredient blending plant to implement TPM in July of 2003. The continuous improvement program was implemented in twelve steps because of its complexity. Early Equipment Management (EEM) is one of the eight pillars of TPM and is the eighth step in the implementation program. EEM is a structured process that evaluates the quality, flexibility, reliability, safety, and life-time cost of equipment. This paper will give an introduction to the basics of TPM, discuss the major parts of EEM, and evaluate the lessons learned from the team’s first effort to execute the structured process on a major project.