Being strongly encouraged to put TPM in my plant by my customer, customer has dictated our consultant they are horrible, hate them.

Readers digest version: I have to put in a functioning TPM system in an assembly plant that has basically air tools, air compressor, and boilers. No stamping, no real fixtures, no injection molding etc..

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, helppp!!!!

What help do you need? Reference to a consultant or info on "what is it"

Most companies get into TPM while implementing lean manufacturing? Are you there? I'm not an expert on TPM. My former employer was just getting into it. I saw bits and pieces of the implementation..not necessarily the philosophy behind it.

Well, we are already pretty lean:
1. Raw goods do 70 inventory turns per month, would be 100 without import parts
2. We run a syncronized JIT, about 120 minutes to receive order, build, rack ship, and get to our customers line side (customer is 20 minutes away)
3. I need help with the process to implimentation, you know a breakdown 1, 2, 3 basics

I have some maintenance contacts at my old employer. I'll see what I can scare up.

What I saw when I was leaving had to do with locating dedicated maintenance folks in the production areas, light boards for emergency call, and DAILY maintenance checks being performed on every machine in the area. Operators had responsibilities in the system as well. I know there is more to it than that. I'll see if I can find any literature to refer you to.

Laura

There are plenty of books and magazine articles on the subject, However IMO the best way to approach the subject is to "benchmark" an existing process.
Arvin Ind. in Dexter,MO comes to mind as one of leaders in this field.