This paper describes the application of the Total Productive Management (TPM) technique as a performance improvement
initiative for a coal mining operation. It discusses the objectives of TPM, with the driver for improved production
performance being the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) of the equipment or process, and with the development of
"ownership" as the behavioral approach to equipment management and continuous improvement through cross-functional
and area-based teams. It illustrates the concept of equipment management as defects management.
The scope for application of TPM to the coal mining industry is immense. The harshness of the operating environment can
be a major generator of equipment defects, and a current paradigm in the industry accepts these defects as an unavoidable
outcome defining maintenance costs in this environment. However recent benchmarking studies have highlighted that
maintenance costs per operating hour in some mining operations are more than double the vendor's estimate of "best
practice". The paper refers to these studies which also compare maintenance costs of fixed and mobile plant and equipment
to "best practice" outcomes in comparable process industries.