SEVEN STEPS OF IMPLIMENTING AUTONOMOUS MAINTENANCE
Steps Contents of Activities Remark
Key activities for initial cleaning include: The time required to complete 1 Initial Cleaning: Perform all activities necessary to shut down, isolate and make the equipment the above steps may exceed or process area totally safe to operated available time for a given Obtain copies of equipment drawings, documentation, history and other shutdown period. It may be relevant information. If drawing do not exists, prepare sketches of the necessary to schedule the above equipment or scan photographs for use in documenting lube points adjustment steps over several shutdown points and process check points. This documentation is used in successive periods to accommodate levels of autonomous maintenance to develop stands for lubrication and operating requirements. autonomous inspection. Dozens of equipment Document initial condition of the equipment through photographs. Prepare abnormalities or improvement forms for documenting equipment defects and tags for making items needing suggestions may result from the further inspection. initial cleaning activities on a Segment portions of the machine or process area and plan how to clean the single machine. Many of the machine with maximum efficiency and effectiveness. equipment issues will be fixed Obtain hand tools, rags, brushes, solvents, mops, brooms, scrapers and other or improved immediately tools required to perform the cleaning tasks. during the initial cleaning Clean each machine segment in a methodical manner. (Remember that the goal activities. Others will be is to put the machine back into as new condition as possible.) backlogged as work request to Remove all dirt, grime, dust, grease, oil, sludge, chips, mists, trash and excess be performed by skilled trades materials. or external contractors. Note any equipment abnormalities such as broken switches, bent guards, Depending on existing missing bolts and leaks. equipment conditions, initial Tag and document all equipment abnormalities. Address easily corrected cleaning activities may require abnormalities immediately and write work request for other abnormalities a major commitment of time found. and resources. Re torque all bolts including hold down, fasteners, adjustment and structural Most companies bolts. Mark all bolts by painting a stripe across the stud head bolt and the bolt underestimate the size of to indicate the relative positions of both when properly torque. the commitment. Once they Any future slippage or loosening of the bolt then can be noted easily as the recognize the extent of marks will no longer line up together. resources required they Repaint areas if necessary according to predetermined specifications. either cut back on the The purpose of repainting is not just to prevent corrosion but to provide a amount of equipment to be surface that can be examined easily for cleanliness. Color codes the included or perform only piping, utilities, and guards for ease and observation. superficial cleaning. Note and mark all lubricating points. Document the points on a lubrication chart and mark the point physically on the machine. Color coding can be performed by painting a small colored circle in close proximity to the lubrication point. Some plants use plastic colored sticker to mark the position and lubricant type instead of a paint circle. The color of the circle designates the type of lubricants to be used. Lubricant containers can be color coded by painting the container the same color as the lubrication point circles. Photograph the clean machine or process area and compare with a before and after photograph to verify the machines progress on initial cleaning. Formally turn the equipment or process area back to production for startup and operations. Have the small group participate in the setup and startup activities for greater understanding of their equipment.
2 Address Sources Contaminant identification
of Contamination Typical contaminant type should be identified and documented. cannot always be accomplished and Inaccessible during the initial cleaning Areas: Typical contaminants include: activates. Leaking process fluids, Much time, due to the volume Leaking lubricants, of the contaminant and the Dust, years of buildup, the initial Corrosion clean-up activity can identify Process only that a contaminant exists. Material handling scrap Worker generated trash Other external pollutants.
3 Establish Cleaning Standard Small groups should be responsible for
Cleaning, Inspecting Standard developing standards for equipment in Inspecting and Lubricating Standard their areas. Lubricating Standards: 4 General Operators will learn how to perform inspection of the basic mechanisms of the On the basis of which overview of the machine. maintenance workers will train machine. Knowledge transfer requires the creation of manuals, operators (Train for general Conduct in depth training with the operators to explain the function and The result will be the Inspections) purpose of each component of the machine as wells training in problem establishment phase of the solving skills such as the Cause & effect and 5 whys. initial schedule a check and the We then have the operators re-inspected the machines with their new-found time needed for its knowledge and highlighted new problems discovered in much the same way implementation. that we did in step one.
5 Conduct With what they have learned in stage 4 the operators modified the standards Autonomous and instructions that they put in place for the first three stages of autonomous Inspections maintenance to streamline and improve their Maintenance tasks. The tasks at this stage are also compared and rationalized with the maintenance departments own maintenance schedules allowing tasks to be allocated correctly and prevent duplication of effort.
6 Implement Visual Provides Green/Red marks on Pressure gauges, oil level indicators. Maintenance stickled JH stickers that what to clean by which Tool Management Fix Machine area Dashboard which Displays all the details regarding that machine Highlight the direction of flow of fluids through pipe work. highlighted “safe” and “normal” operating values on gauges and sight glasses in green and undesirable readings in red
7 Continuous Repeated and improved on all that we have found and done in the previous Improvement stages to continually improve and reinforce what done with autonomous (KAIZEN) maintenance Team leaders, managers and maintenance technicians audited the work done by the operators on a regular basis and both congratulated the operators on a job well done and to give them the benefits of their knowledge.
