Total productive maintenance: Planned and autonomous maintenance; bridging the gap between practice and research

Competitive pressures and changing production management paradigms have, in recent years, increased the importance of reliable and consistent production equipment. Initially, the Japanese, and now others, have espoused the virtues of a management philosophy known as total productive maintenance (TPM). We are interested in the maintenance-investment decisions for TPM. This paper (1) describes the basic elements of TPM programs, (2) categorizes the relevant research literature using a practitioner's framework for autonomous and planned maintenance activities, and (3) identifies the current gaps between practitioner needs and academic research in the area of TPM and offers suggestions to close the gaps.