TPM implementation in China: a case study

Total productive maintenance (TPM) is an innovative approach to maintenance which holds the potential for enhancing effectiveness of production facilities. It demands significant change of work culture and radical restructuring of work. Introducing TPM in operations located in developing countries, such as mainland China, is a major challenge because the environment is typically traditional and unfavourable to the transformation. This paper presents a case study of TPM implementation in such an environment – a high‐precision machining factory in mainland China. The workforce in the factory consists primarily of migrant workers who are driven by instant gratification, and who are passive and hesitant to take new challenges. None of these characteristics is conducive to TPM. A three‐phase programme was adopted by the factory to implement the change. The first two phases of the programme have been completed, producing significant improvement in production performance. While the advanced stage of the multi‐year programme is still in progress, the lessons so far learned from the change initiative are discussed.