The Purpose of the JIPM

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"The Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) contributes to promoting safe, secure and reliable production and maintenance activities, as well as stabilizing and improving quality, in the world of industry through supporting problem-solving related to the enhancement of productivity, equipment-management technologies, and maintenance technologies and skills." TPM applies to every department in your plant.

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History of JIPM and TPM and the link to American Quality Concepts

Starting with JUSE (Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers)

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At the end of the Second World War, the Government of Japan promoted the creation of industrial organizations.  One of these organizations was the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE).  JUSE brought leaders and experts from all of Japan’s major industries together to share in best practices.  It was directed to "revitalize Japan’s economy and [eliminate] waste by improving quality".  It was established in May 1946 by the Science and Technology Agency (now known as the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) of the Government of Japan.

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Doctor W. Edwards Deming, an American engineer and statistician visited Japan in 1947 to begin the planning for the 1951 census in Japan. During these trips he met with many engineers and discussed Manufacturing Efficiency with statistics.  later,  the JUSE invited Deming to lecture them on the use of statistical quality control.  He arrived in June 1950 and he returned again on five occasions as consultant to Japanese industry. The following year the JUSE established the Deming Prize, which was originally awarded to individuals who had contributed to the theory and application of quality control and to corporations which had obtained outstanding results in the application of quality control.

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In the 1940’s and 50’s, Dr. Edwards Deming taught the Japanese how to use statistical methods and how to take care of their manufacturing equipment.  Deming lectured in Japan about the tools and techniques used by the USA to assure that product quality was built into the production process.  Working with  the Japanese Engineers, they discussed American techniques that were used to care for equipment in the US during the war effort in the 40s. They learned a lot, and took the teachings of Deming to heart.  Deming learned early on, that having the engineering personnel with technical skills and tools alone is not enough, and in the 1950’s he started teaching scientific management to executives in Japan. 

 

The concept of  PM (Preventive Maintenance) was introduced in 1951 (from America)  By 1957, it matured to CM (corrective maintenance) as the Japanese applied the concept of "Kaizen" or improvement to eliminate equipment failures (improving reliability) and making it easier to maintain equipment (improving
maintainability). By roughly 1960 it became MP (Maintenance Prevention) as the  equipment became Maintenance Free.   The three concepts together became "Productive Maintenance". and in 1971, Nippon Denso Co., Ltd (a subsidiary of Toyota Motors) became the first successful implementation of TPM in Japan. That year they were awarded the "PM Excellent Plant Award" by the JMS,  and this was the start of TPM.  The Japanese continued to gradually develop TPM and the concepts of TPS and TPM were very compatible. 

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At the end of the war and in the early 50s, Japan was known for producing cheap items of poor quality, but by practicing constancy of purpose and locking into the use of Scientific management principles, they were able to become an industrial power house and the second largest economy in the world by 1978.

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Edwards Deming became quite famous in the USA in the 1980s after the release of a television News documentary series called “If Japan can, why can’t we?”.   Deming was recognized for his knowledge of this system after he helped to educate engineers and top managers in Japan on a better way to manage manufacturing.  In the early 1950s, “Made in Japan” was the synonym for cheap junk.  Japan had very little natural resources, and needed strong industrial production for products to export in exchange for food, and materials. 

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In the 1980’s, America started to embrace the Japanese approach to Quality improvement. We have continued to follow through the use of SPC, Quality Circles, the Toyota Way, Six Sigma , and Lean manufacturing. (All of which have roots in concepts spawned by Deming in Japan). These concepts later became intertwined into TPM in Japan.  Americans were quick to learn the tools of Lean and apply them in our shops and factories and make significant improvements.  But in learning and copying the tools from Japan, we seemed to have missed a few important principles.

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In reality, the Japan approach since 1950 is based on scientific management methods designed by the USA in the 40’s.   The key is scientific decision making, with the involvement of those who run the machines.  It is based on consensus vs. confrontation.

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Additional background and the influence of other Quality Gurus

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While Deming was at the Department of Ag  (circa 1942) he was introduced to Walter Shewhart, a statistician at Bell telephone labs statistical control of industrial processes.   In essence it was knowing when to act and when to leave the process alone.  He helped in the WWII war effort by helping to train thousands of engineers in the science of Statistical Quality Control (SQC). During the war effort the United states used training within industry, and SQC, to quickly man factories and make reliable equipment and weapons. After the war, the US got sloppy and spoiled because we were one of the few nations that had a fully in tact country, while the rest of the world's physical assets were in a war time recovery period.  We made it as fast as we could without regard for quality, process, or workers. 

 

Deming's approach was extremely effective; but based on an observation that he made in the USA in 1949, he discovered that scientific manufacturing technology without top management understanding the principles, was doomed to failure.

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“Two other American scientific experts, Dr. Joseph Juran and Armand Feigenbaum, also worked with the Japanese. Both Deming and Juran, a former investigator at the Hawthorne Works experiments, drew on Shewhart's work and recognized that system problems could be addressed through three fundamental managerial processes:

 

1. planning, control, and improvement is a key investment.

2. Understanding that satisfying the customer’s needs was paramount.

3. Feigenbaum stressed the need to involve all departments of a company in the pursuit of quality.

 

The Japanese expanded Juran’s customer concept to include internal customers;  such as "those people within the organization who depend on the output of other workers”.  

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The following bullets summarize the activities that occurred from 1961 forward. 

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• IN 1961,  the Japan Management Association (JMA) established a Plant Maintenance Committee.

• In 1969 the JMA was replaced by the JIPE (Japan Institute of Plant Engineers)

• In 1971 TPM concepts were developed.

• In 1981 JIPM was launched as a Non-profit organization to:

  • Support factory/plant management, plant engineers, maintenance managers

  • Develop & promote Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)

  • In 1989 the TPM Awards were refined to encompass the entire company from the shop floor to the executive boardroom, creating a true company-wide commitment to production excellence. As a result, the TPM Awards now reflect the whole manufacturing organization.

• 1981 - 2018 TPM gradually continued to evolve​ and improve.

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