A PVC profile extrusion line stopped several times a week with puller, saw and vacuum tank failures. An initial clean found 63 defects; operator-led maintenance and planned work cut breakdowns from 14 to 4 a month and raised availability from 82% to 94%.
Key numbers
A building products company ran a PVC profile extrusion line that had a reputation. It stopped several times a week: the puller would slip, the saw would jam, the vacuum tank would lose pressure. Maintenance was always reacting, operators were always waiting, and nobody could remember a week without at least one major stoppage.
The situation
Breakdowns averaged 14 a month. Mean time between failures was about 31 hours, and availability was 82%. The line was critical to supply, so every stoppage meant overtime later to catch up, the hidden losses described in OEE: the one number every plant manager should know.
What changed
The plant introduced Total Productive Maintenance, starting with autonomous maintenance on this one line.
- Initial clean and inspection: operators and maintenance technicians spent a shift cleaning the line together. Cleaning was inspection: they found and tagged 63 defects, from loose and worn belts to leaking fittings, damaged sensors and contamination in the vacuum system.
- Defects fixed: each tag was assigned an owner and tracked to closure on a board at the line.
- Daily routines: operators trained in short daily cleaning, inspection and lubrication checks, taking around ten minutes per shift.
- Visual standards: gauge ranges marked, bolts match-marked, lubrication points labelled, so abnormalities were obvious at a glance.
- Planned maintenance: maintenance shifted from reacting to planned work, using breakdown data to schedule replacement of wear parts before they failed.
The approach built on the visual workplace principles in 5S that lasts: you cannot spot abnormality in a dirty, disorganised machine.
Results
Breakdowns fell from 14 a month to four over the following six months. Mean time between failures rose from 31 to 118 hours. Availability increased from 82% to 94%, releasing capacity that had been lost to stoppages for years.
Why it worked
The 63 defects found in the initial clean were the early warning signs of future breakdowns, sitting in plain sight. Once operators were checking the line daily, new problems were caught while they were small. And because maintenance was no longer always reacting, technicians had time to fix root causes and plan replacements.
Lessons for your operation
- Start TPM with a joint initial clean. It reveals the deterioration that causes breakdowns.
- Track every tag to closure. Unclosed tags kill operator involvement.
- Keep daily checks short and visual.
- Use breakdown data to move maintenance from reactive to planned.
- Start on one line, prove the results, then expand.
