Admired by industrial companies and business schools the world over, the Toyota Production System (TPS) is revered as an organisational culture as much as it is a plant operating system. It’s core philosophy — to motivate and develop people so that they can surface and solve problems quickly and build a culture of continuous improvement — extends beyond the company’s own walls to include its suppliers.

When Toyota’s North American Manufacturing centres were not achieving equipment reliability goals consistently, Ed Welch was appointed to lead the NA Engineering and Maintenance organisation.

A five-year maintenance ‘Hoshin’ (what, why, how) was established, and activities were aligned with specific targets for improvement around Safety, Quality, Productivity, Human Morale, and Cost.

• Relationship between Toyota Production System and Total Productive Maintenance.
• Respect for People.
• Getting back to basics.
• 12 principal attributes of Total Productive Maintenance.
• TPM implementation methods.
• Using the knowledge base of all the employees to improve equipment reliability.
• Open communication between operators and engineering.
• Training production personnel to perform routine maintenance.
• Assuring a culture of sustained Continuous Improvement (PDCA).

Edward Welch retired from a distinguished 26-year career at Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America where he led Maintenance Best Practice Initiatives for 16 Vehicle Assembly Plants, 3 Powertrain Machining Plants, and4 Casting Plants. He was the TPM Lead for Maintenance Member Skill Development; Production Member TPM training; and he led the North America Maintenance Self Reliance Team. Ed also co-authored TPM Global Standard with Toyota’s Japan Maintenance Leaders, and teaches lean principles in maintenance and engineering at the University of Kentucky.