15-09-2017, 09:59 AM
Autonomous maintenance (AM) is performed by operators and not by dedicated maintenance technicians. It is a crucial component of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). The central idea of autonomous maintenance is to give operators more responsibility and enable them to carry out preventative maintenance tasks.
According to conventional maintenance programs, a machine can run until it breaks or reaches its maintenance date. The maintenance department is responsible for handling / fixing. By contrast, stand-alone maintenance allows machine operators to perform straightforward maintenance work (lubrication, bolt tightening, cleaning and inspection) to prevent breakdowns and react faster if a failure is detected.
Total Productive Maintenance was developed by Japanese companies, trying to extend the existing Total Quality Control (TQC) concept with the ideas of preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
Because TPM gives operators many more responsibilities, specific training is required as well as some modifications to the machines to facilitate cleaning and maintenance operations. This will significantly increase the skill level of the operators and will help them better understand how to maintain and even improve the equipment.
