In this paper we investigate the relationship between Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and manufacturing performance (MP) through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). We find that TPM has a positive and significant relationship with low cost (as measured by higher inventory turns), high levels of quality (as measured by higher levels of conformance to specifications), and strong delivery performance (as measured by higher percentage of on-time deliveries and by faster speeds of delivery). We also find that the relationship between TPM and MP can be explained by both direct and indirect relationships. In particular, there is a significant and positive indirect relationship between TPM and MP through Just-In-Time (JIT) practices.
The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical analysis of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). While Just-In-Time (JIT), Total Quality Management (TQM) and Employee Involvement (EI) have been recognized as strong contributors to manufacturing performance (MP) both in the practitioner literature Schonberger, 1986 and Miller and Schenk, 1997 and the academic literature Cleveland et al., 1989, Flynn et al., 1995, Jarrell and Easton, 1997 and Sakakibara et al., 1997, there has been limited recognition (Maier et al., 1998) of the role that maintenance plays in improving MP. However, TPM can be thought of as integral to a World Class Manufacturing Strategy that also involves JIT, TQM, and EI. In particular, Schonberger (1986) argues that JIT, TQM, EI, and TPM are critical components of World Class Manufacturing. Therefore, it is hypothesized that companies that implement TPM will not only be able to enhance their maintenance practices but also improve their MP.
This paper focuses on the relationship between TPM and MP. We propose a conceptual framework to examine the nature of this relationship. Since TPM, JIT, and TQM are critical to a world class manufacturing strategy, we believe that it is necessary to consider JIT and TQM when assessing TPM. Therefore, our framework considers both direct and indirect relationships (through JIT and TQM) between TPM and MP. After proposing our framework, we then test it using survey data collected from 117 plants across three industries and four countries.
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 of the paper, we define our model and our hypotheses. In Section 3, we describe our data. In Section 4, we discuss the measurement of our model variables. In Section 5, we present our analysis approach. Then, in Section 6, we present and discuss the results from our study. Finally, we present our conclusions.
The results of the analyses indicate that TPM, as measured for this paper, has a strong positive impact
on multiple dimensions of MP. While TPM directly impacts MP, there is also a strong indirect relationship
between TPM and MP through JIT. Our results are important for two reasons. (1) Maintenance programs have long been used as a means to control manufacturing costs. Our results show that TPM does more than control costs, it can improve dimensions of cost, quality, and delivery. TPM can be a strong contributor to the strength of the organization and has the ability to improve MP. (2) World Class Manufacturing programs, such as JIT, TQM, and TPM, should not be evaluated in isolation. They are closely related and in combination can help foster better MP. Future research should further consider the relationships between these practices and their combined impact on performance.
We plan to continue our research in this area to further explain the relationship between manufacturing
practices and MP. In particular, we plan to identify the common infrastructural and unique practices of TQM, JIT, and TPM, and test their interrelationships and impact on MP. Also, we would like to investigate the nature of the relationships in different contextual situations (for example, cross-country and cross-industry differences), combining the work from McKone et al. (1999) and this paper. In addition, we would like to consider the life cycle of the practices and evaluate the impact of the development time on MP. Hopefully, this type of research will support and encourage successful implementation of TQM, JIT, and TPM. Based on this research, the authors recommend that practitioners pay closer attention to their maintenance management practices and their impact not only on costs but also on quality and delivery performance. Our future research will provide additional details about specific practices that lead to improved performance in various environmental and organizational situations.
