Improving maintenance management: Case Study of a Local...

International Journal of Modern Research in Engineering & Management (IJMREM)

||Volume|| 1||Issue|| 1 ||Pages|| 11-24 ||January- 2018|| ISSN: 2581-4540

www.ijmrem.com IJMREM 1

Improving maintenance management: Case Study of a Local

Textile Company

1Monageng R, 1Kommula V P, 1Mapfaira H, 1Gandure J, 1Segatlhe B T and

1Thabano K O H 1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Botswana, Gaborone,

P/Bag UB0061, Gaborone, Botswana.

--------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT-------------------------------------------------- The manufacturing sector in Botswana has been rapidly growing in recent times. Maintenance management

system plays a vital role in keeping equipment on condition and also major contributor for overall productivity.

The current study seeks to improve maintenance management of a local textile case study company with its

operations based in Gaborone Botswana. The study sought to assist the organization take advantage of low

labor costs and good export policies to manufacture goods for both local and the international markets through

effective maintenance management. In order to effectively compete, organizations need to produce quality

products and services. In that regard, manufacturers need to reduce redundancy in business processes,

redesign products using prime components and increase availability of products and services through provision

of effective equipment maintenance. The case study company’s current maintenance management system is

simple and not effectively contributing in terms of equipment availability. Through this present work, we were

able to develop, document and implement a maintenance management system for the organization.

Keywords: Maintenance management, Maintenance management strategies, Total Productive Maintenance,

Maintenance Policy

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Date of Submission: Date, 06 January 2018 Date of Accepted: 25 January 2018

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I. INTRODUCTION

Maintenance has a tremendous impact on any company’s capability to optimize its production system to meet its

long-term objectives. Generally, a production system in which maintenance is not given attention produces

defective products because of machine defects. Maintenance is defined as activities required or undertaken to

conserve as nearly as possible the original condition of an asset or resource while compensating for normal wear

and tear (Raju 2011). It can also be defined as actions necessary for retaining or restoring a piece of equipment,

machine, or system to the specified operable condition to achieve its maximum useful life (Raju, 2011).

Maintenance management is the process of overseeing maintenance resources so that the organization does not

experience downtime from broken equipment or waste money on inefficient maintenance procedures.

Maintenance management contributes in reducing equipment downtime, improving quality and increasing

productivity. The maintenance cost varies from 15 to 70 percent of total production cost due to the high cost of

restoring equipment, secondary damage and safety/health hazards inflicted by the failure (O'Connor, 2005). This

means if this cost is not managed properly it could easily spiral out of control and lose business. Maintenance

management goal is to enhance equipment effectiveness and maximize output. It strives to attain and maintain

optimal equipment conditions to prevent unexpected breakdowns, speed losses, and quality defects in process

(Islam, et al., 2006). There are several maintenance management strategies which organizations need to be

aware of so they can customize to their environment and context.

1.1 Maintenance Management Strategies: Maintenance strategies can be divided into two groups namely

planned and unplanned maintenance (Raju, 2011). Figure 1 shows one way of how different maintenance

strategies can be categorized and how they can be deployed. Unplanned maintenance activities are generally

restricted to correcting an emergency to prevent injury, loss of property or to return an asset to service.

Improving maintenance management: Case Study…

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According to Ilangkumaran and Kumanan (2009) there are at least four possible alternative maintenance

strategies in the textile industry and they are described in below sections 1.1.1 through 1.1.4.

Preventive maintenance (PVM) : PM is the utilization of planned and coordinated inspections, adjustments,

repairs and replacements in maintaining an equipment or plant. One of the main objectives is to detect any

condition that may cause machine failure before such breakdown occurs. This makes it possible to plan and

schedule the maintenance work without interruption in production schedule and improves the availability of

equipment. Under this maintenance system an extensive inspection of each item of equipment is made at

predetermined intervals (Shyjith, et al., 2008). Preventative maintenance involves performing maintenance on a

machine before the time of failure. This kind of maintenance avoids loss of productivity due to machine

downtime and increased costs due to stoppages in production which could have been avoided (Chan, 2005).

PM is based upon the principle that ‘prevention is better than cure’. It is the maintenance carried out at

predetermined intervals or according to prescribed criteria and intended to reduce the probability of failure or

the degradation of the functioning and the effects limited. It has three types; Running maintenance, Scheduled

maintenance and Shut down maintenance (O'Connor, 2005).

Predictive Maintenance (PM) : Predictive maintenance involves the prediction of the failure before it occurs,

identifying the root cause for those failures symptoms and eliminating those causes before they result in

extensive damage of the equipment. The main objective is to predict an impending failure well in time, thus

avoiding failures which could cause heavy penalty costs and even safety hazards. This Type of maintenance is

performed continuously or at intervals according to the requirements to diagnose and monitor a condition or

system (Ralph, 2006).

Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) : CBM is maintenance carried out in response to a significant

deterioration in a unit or system as indicated by a change in a monitored parameter of the equipment or system

based on its condition or performance. CBM is most suited for high capital cost equipment and complex

replaceable items and for permanent parts that deteriorate overtime or due to prolonged use. For this purpose, a

good knowledge of failure data is necessary for effective implementation of condition-based maintenance and

this process involves diagnosis detection and proper execution of maintenance planning (Shyjith, et al., 2008).

Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) : RCM is used to identify the maintenance requirements of

equipment. The RCM establishes functional requirement of equipment and these are then related to design and

inherent reliability parameters of the machine. For each function, the associated functional failure is defined and

the failure modes and effects of the functional failures are analyzed. The consequences of each failure are

established which fail in one of the four categories. They are hidden, operational, and non-operational, safety or

environmental (Raju, 2011).

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) : In many industries Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a system

which is used to maintain and improve the integrity of production systems and quality through the involvement

of everyone in caring for machines and equipment. TPM as a strategy avoids sudden breakdowns and helps in

effective maintenance which minimizes unplanned or emergent breakdowns. In the textile industry, TPM is used

in assignments like machine inspection, cleaning, lubrication, needle replacement and basic machine setting



tasks by the machine operators. The key measurement of TPM is machine effectiveness which includes

availability, performance efficiency, and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). (Senthilkumar, et al., 2012).

TPM is mainly accomplished through 7 pillars which help to ensure zero defects, zero breakdown, zero waste,

and zero accident with total employee participation (Raju, 2011). These seven pillars defined as follows:

1. Focused Improvement: In this pillar, cross-functional teams are assembled with the main aim of working

on problematic equipment and coming up with improvement suggestions. The use of cross-functional teams

is important to have a large and varied number of employees involved to bring in different experience or

views.

2. Autonomous Maintenance: It places the responsibility of basic maintenance activities on the hands of the

operators and leaves the maintenance staff with more time to attend to more complex maintenance tasks.

3. Planned Maintenance: It schedules maintenance activities based on observed behavior of machines such

as failure rates and breakdowns. By scheduling these activities, the cycle of breakdowns and failure is

broken thus contributing to a longer service life of machines.

4. Training and Education: This pillar is concerned with filling the knowledge gap that exists in an

organization when it comes to TPM. Ensuring that employees are trained gives the organization a reliable

pool of knowledgeable staff that can drive the initiative competently.

5. Quality Maintenance: This ensures that equipment can detect and prevent errors during production. By

detecting errors, processes become reliable enough to produce the right specification the first time.

6. Early Equipment Management: It uses the experience gathered from previous maintenance improvement

activities to ensure that new machinery reaches its optimal performance much early than usual.

7. Safety, Health and Environment: This pillar of TPM ensures that all workers are provided with an

environment that is safe and that all conditions that are harmful to their well-being are eliminated.

Maintenance Policy : Maintenance policies are a set of protocols that are followed to reduce the number of

unexpected stoppages. Performing PVM actions at certain point of time regardless of component’s condition is

defined as a Block policy. Block policy aims to maintain the component so that the failure could be avoided as

much as possible that may lead to a catastrophic failure. The policy is to work as a guiding principle of how the

company is to achieve its vision and goals, taking into consideration the values and methodologies of the

company. A policy may be a bigger picture for the employees, feeling the attendance of doing something with

the right cause. The policy is a way in which the higher objectives are translated to more concrete objectives. It

is a means to explain the objectives for all employees. To get an understanding and support in these goals and

objectives it is important that everyone understands the meaning of the organization policy (Mobley, 2004).

Computer Maintenance Management System (CMMS) : CMMS is software that is used to schedule and

record operation and preventive/planned maintenance activities associated with facility equipment. It allows

managers to stay up-to-date on facilities operations, even while out of the office, on the progress of maintenance

requests. The utilization of CMMS facilitates the collection, processing, and analysis of maintenance data which

helps to control effectively the maintenance of an organization by properly keeping information about occurring

events. CMMS are designed to gather all data related to maintenance and to file it in the history of

corresponding asset. CMMS have been proven to have several impacts on the maintenance management of

organizations. Some of them have been listed as reducing equipment downtime through the benefits of regular

scheduled preventive maintenance, increasing equipment life, increasing productivity, reducing inventory,

providing historical records to assist in maintenance planning and budgeting, and providing maintenance

reports.

II. METHODOLOGY The research methodology employed in this work is presented in sections 2.1 through 2.2.

Assessment of current maintenance system : The initial/current status of the maintenance system was

assessed in order to identify the problems that were experienced regarding maintenance management. This

included interviews with the maintenance manager as well as document analysis to triangulate information

obtained from interview with maintenance manager.



Fishbone (Root cause) analysis : A root cause analysis was carried out to understand the contributing factors to

system failures so that actions can be developed. Figure 2 was used to analyze the causes of defects that led to

downtime in categories of material, methods, manpower and machines.

Figure 2: Fishbone Diagram

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Assessment of current maintenance system: At the assessment of current maintenance system, it was found

that maintenance manager is randomly called by the machine operator to repair the damaged machines. In

addition there were no records of maintenance carried out on machines such as maintenance log and

preventative maintenance log. Upon assessment of the current maintenance system it was found out that the

problems at the company included the following:

Frequent machine breakdowns: These were caused by lack of history of machine failure since there was no

maintenance log. Furthermore, there is no root cause analysis to determine the cause of machine failures.

Limited tools and equipment spares: Machine spares and tools were limited and this caused the machines to

idle in cases where the machines had breakdowns and waiting for parts to be replaced. This problem was due to

lack of strategy to order the machine parts that are used frequently.

Unreliable machines in production: The company did not have preventative logs hence the reliability of

machines was unknown and there was more downtime because machines randomly failed. Preventative

maintenance is the diagnosis of the machine before it fails in order to avoid the unexpected failure on a

particular machine.

Lack of knowledge about Autonomous Maintenance: Most operators in the workshop demonstrated limited

knowledge on autonomous machine maintenance which keeps machine operational. This explained observed

machine high down times. Table 1 shows common types of machine failures and causes of failures diagnosed

through the root cause analysis.

Table 1: Types of failures and their Causes

Common types

of Failure

Cause(s) of failure

Needles damage

a) Needle

breakage:

b) Bent

Needle:

i. Misuse of the machine usually causes

needle breakage. Using wrong sized

needle.

ii. A bent needle which results in low

quality of products and ultimately needle

breakage is commonly due to wrong

insertion of a needle in the machine by

the operator.

iii. Top tension is too tight or thread is

wrapped around something. Needle may

be in loosely.



iv. Operator pulls fabric ahead of the feed

dogs and causes needle to hit the needle

plate.

v. Fabric is too thick and too heavy for your

machine.

Looper damages i. When a needle is bent and repeatedly hits

the looper, it may break or bend it.

ii. Incorrect winding of threads on to the

bobbin.

iii. Excessive tension to the bobbin threads.

iv. Incorrect fitting of bobbin case.

Upper Thread

breakage

i. Wrong threading of the machine

ii. Poor quality of tread

iii. Irregular tension

iv. Wrong timing Inferior thread may have

been used, or thread may be knotted

somewhere. Needle may be too fine for

thread or fabric.

v. Upper tension is too tight.

vi. Thread may be wrapped around spool

holder or thread guides, or caught on

spool's thread slot.

Lower thread

breaks

i. Wrong threading of the machine

ii. Poor quality of thread

iii. Irregular tension

iv. Inferior thread or mis- matched thread.

v. Tension on bobbin case is too tight

vi. Needle plate hole has sharp edges or

shuttle has rough spot

After analyzing the types of failures and their causes, a detailed investigation on root causes was performed.

Table 2 presents suggested solutions to address observed common causes of the system failures.

Table 2: Suggested Solutions for Major Defects with Corresponding Causes

Areas Causes Suggested Solutions

Man Carelessness Improve supervision.

Inadequate

training and

operator

inefficiency

Train operators sufficiently

about autonomous

maintenance

Machine Machine is

threaded

incorrectly or

excessive thread

tension

Rethread machine and

maintain proper thread

tensions. Make sure the

thread passes through the

tension discs

Dull or bent

sewing machine

needle and

knife.

Replace the needle and

knife with a new one.

Old and

Defective

machines

Replace with new machines

and ensure preventive

maintenance

Excessive

pressure on the

presser foot

Lessen the pressure on the

presser foot. Slacken both

tensions.



Method Incorrect size of

the needle and

thread for

operation

The size of the needle and

thread should be

synchronized. Ensure both

the needle and bottom

(looper) positions are

rightly fed by the correct

thread type and size.

Incorrectly

inserted needle

Insert the needle on correct

position. Check that the

bobbin is wound

correctly and no loose

threads or loops sticking

out.

Comparatively

long stitch for

the type of

fabric in work.

Shorten the stitch length by

means of the stitch

regulator, especially when

sewing fine fabrics.

Material Poor quality

thread

Use good quality thread.

Poor quality

needle

Use high quality needles

from another brand. Needle

should have high heat and

wear resistance capacity.

Limited spare

parts

Develop an inventory

control system for ordering

spare parts.

Improper

Finishing

To cut thread properly, start

regularly checking system

to check the machine is

properly functioning or not.

Also, to Improve quality

inspection system.

Documentation of maintenance practices : In order to improve the maintenance management of the case-

study organization, documentation of current maintenance management process was carried out to expose areas

that needed improvement. Figure 4 below shows how the maintenance system was currently operating (AS IS

model).

Figure 4: Current Maintenance process flow

The proposed maintenance process flow is shown in Figure 5.



Figure 5: Developed Maintenance Process Flow

For effective functionality, the developed maintenance process flow needed institution of assert labelling,

maintenance log, inventory management system, maintenance checklist and objectives, control procedures and

maintenance policy.

Asset Labelling : Production machines were labelled for ease of identification and access to machine

specifications. This information is also useful for documents such as maintenance log, preventive maintenance

log and developing database for the machines. All machines in production, cutting, design, embroidery and

ironing departments were labelled using stickers.The sticker design includes the company name and section

where the asset belongs (for example P8 means the machine is from production and it is number 8 on the

workshop). The stickers were pasted on the machine using a sticker labelling machine.

Figure 6 shows a labelled stitching machine, the label makes it easier to identify the machine even if it is moved

to a different location.

Figure 6: Sample of labelled machine

Maintenance log: A maintenance log was developed and implemented upon completion of machine labelling

for maintaining information about the machines in production line. Maintenance log provides a record of all

work performed on the system regarding maintenance, thus it provides a history of system failures which is



helpful for preventative maintenance. Information on the maintenance log includes machine name, model

number, asset number, department of the machine, machine location of the machine, time of failure, cause of

failure and remarks. Figure 7 shows an implemented maintenance log for recording information about

equipment maintenance.

Figure 7: Developed maintenance log

Maintenance checklist: A checklist is a document which should be filled prior to using the machine and this

document acts as a preventive maintenance log because it provides a history of which parts of the machine

should be addressed. The checklist is to be filled by the machine operators daily and then be sent to the

maintenance manager to view which parts of the machine have problems. Figure 8 shows a sample maintenance

checklist that was developed for the case-study company. The form is mainly in two parts, the cleaning of the

machine before it is used and just a general condition check of the machine. It also includes the date the machine

was last used and the employee name and number of the employees who used it last.

Figure 8: Developed Maintenance checklist



Inventory Management System: ABC analysis is a system for inventory classification. It was used to divide

inventory into three classes based on Rand volume. These classes were as follows:

a) Class A - High Rand volume

b) Class B - Medium Rand volume

c) Class C - Low Rand volume

The classification was then used to establish policies that could focus on the few critical parts and not the many

trivial ones. Figures 9 and 10 show ABC calculations that were done and the graphical presentation based on the

inventory order information from the case-study company. The vertical axis on Figure 10 shows the combined

percentage use of the materials in the different ABC categories.

Figure 9: ABC analysis

Figure 10: Graphical presentation

ABC inventory control allows inventory managers to concentrate on controlling the more significant items of

stock. The aim of introducing this system is to ensure that critical parts will always be in stock to avoid

downtime of machines due to limited spare parts. Class A items as shown in Figure 10 comprise of items such

as needles, straight cutting blades, button clamp slides, loopers, feed dogs, idle gears, spiral gears, sharpening

gstone and yoke slide which make approximately 20% of high-usage-value items which account for 78.5% of

the total maintenance parts usage value.

Class B items are those of medium usage, usually the next 30 per cent of items which often account for around

13.1% of the total usage value. Examples of these are pressure foots & needle bars. Class C items are those low-

usage which, although comprising around 50 per cent of the total types of items stocked, probably only account

for around 8.2% of the total usage value of all maintenance operations. Some examples of these items are needle

bar balance and clamps, needle bar thread guide, chaining finger and screw for pressure foot.

Maintenance Policy: Since the case-study company did not have any policy or set of documented maintenance

procedures, a maintenance policy was developed for effective maintenance management. Maintenance policy is

Needle(blind stitch) LW-6T-12G 10 78 780.00 23.7%

Straight cutting blade 10E-S/E 24 14 336.00 10.2%

Button clamp slide B2552-372-000 3 107.8 323.40 9.8%

Looper B1239-372-000 3 82.5 247.50 7.5%

Feed dog 23-216 1 214.5 214.50 6.5% 78.5% A

Idle gear DE 161 2 99 198.00 6.0%

Spiral gear DE 174 2 93.5 187.00 5.7%

SHARPENING GSTONE MT260-E-24 1 159 159.00 4.8%

Yoke slide B1237-372-000 3 47.3 141.90 4.3%

Knife B-2702-047-N00 20 6 120.00 3.6%

Knife B-2702-047-L00 20 6 120.00 3.6% B

Pressure foot DE 147 2 52.8 105.60 3.2% 13.1%

Needle bar 400-09083 1 89 89.00 2.7%

Cloth retainer 137-77 1 60.5 60.50 1.8%

Needle bar clamp B31123-372-00 1 57.2 57.20 1.7%

Screw SS-1060210-TP 10 4.4 44.00 1.3%

Needle bar balance B3112-372-00 1 38.5 38.50 1.2% 8.2% C

Needle bar thread guide 400-09093 1 28 28.00 0.9%

Chaining finger 122-35 1 19.8 19.80 0.6%

Srew for pressure foot DE 146 4 4.4 17.60 0.5%

Screw SS-4080415-SP 1 5.5 5.50 0.2%

3293.00 100%

INVENTORY FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2017

TOTAL

% of Rand

VolumeClassPart name

Inventory

Volume (units)Part number

Unit Cost

(ZAR)

Rand Volume

(ZAR)



a statement of principle used to achieve maintenance objectives and guide maintenance management decision

making. Maintenance management can be defined as the organization of maintenance within an agreed policy.

The key requirements and procedures that were covered in the developed maintenance policy include

Maintenance Objectives, Metal Control Procedure, Maintenance Plan-Preventive and Work Allocation, and

Training of Staff.

Maintenance Objectives: Effectiveness of the maintenance is measured by the ability of the policy to achieve

the desired outcomes regarding maintenance in the organization. The following are the objectives of the

maintenance policy developed for the case-study company.

1. To keep the maintenance cost per production item produced as low as possible.

2. To keep the quality of the product very high.

3. To keep the downtime for critical equipment as low as possible.

4. To keep maintenance cost as low as possible.

5. To provide effective and trained personnel.

a) Metal Control Procedures: Since the organization uses a lot of sharp objects in their production processes,

there was a need to develop metal control procedures under the maintenance policy. These procedures were

designed to cover all the actions that must be carried out when handling sharp objects in different task.

Sewing and Knitting Needle Control: Needle control policy covers the strict control of all needles to ensure

that the only ones in use are for the manufacturing process and that the disposal of all worn or broken needles is

carried out by authorized personnel. The only needles allowed at work stations are those currently needed to

operate the machine process. No spare needles should be held at machine point therefore new needles are kept in

a locked location only to be accessed by trained or authorized personnel.

Worn and damaged needle replacement: Needles which are worn or damaged but not broken are to be

collected and a new needle must be issued by the authorized personnel. Old needles are to be disposed of into a

sealed jar or tin with a small opening in the top. The jar must be kept in the secure location and disposed of

responsibly.

When a needle breaks, the operation must be stopped and the maintenance supervisor be informed. All the

needle pieces must be located and checked against a whole needle to make sure all the pieces have been found.

The pieces must be immediately attached to the record sheet with clear adhesive tape and fully recorded with all

information. A new needle may only be issued when it is confirmed that all the needle pieces are found. If all

needle pieces cannot be found then the product being worked on and any other work near must be placed into a

bag or box and taken to the isolation area for further checking. The workplace must be checked with a hand-held

metal detector or magnet before work restarts. The handheld detector must be calibrated and operating correctly,

using the 1.2mm test piece before being used. Check for the missing needle pieces in the isolation area. If found,

all the pieces are to be recorded on the record sheet as normal.

Knives, blades, scissors and snips can be used in every area of the factory from cutting rooms to warehouses.

All new and used cutting blades for band knives and straight knives must be kept in a locked cupboard with

access only by the cutting room maintenance supervisor. Records must be kept of new blades in stock, issued

blades and returned blades so that every blade is accounted for. The instructions should be considered pertaining

to the sharp objects in the workshop;

1. Under no circumstances can old blades be turned into knives for use in the production area.

2. Old blades must be disposed of responsibly on a regular basis.

3. Where knives are needed to open containers; these should have a retractable blade, be numbered and

stored at the end of each day in a secure cupboard.

4. Small scissors and snips must be tied to work stations and this applies to all areas used for cutting,

sewing, inspection, pressing and warehouse.

5. Large scissors in the cutting room and sample room are to be numbered and stored in a secure cupboard

at the end of each working day. The supervisor responsible for scissors must check all have been returned

to ensure that they are not lost or stolen.

6. Proper care must also be ensured when the operators are holding sharp tools; they must be held with the

blades pointing downwards to avoid injuring one another.

b) Maintenance Plan-Preventive and Work Allocation: Maintenance will be carried out by the

maintenance manager on regular basis to keep the production machines working. Information about the



maintenance activities should be should be continuously updated Duties of the maintenance manager could

include at least the following inspecting the facility, checking electrical units of machines, ordering parts and

equipment, recording daily maintenance activity and preparing work schedules. Machine operators should

record the maintenance checklist before using any machine.

The proposed maintenance strategy for the organization is preventive maintenance. Each property will have a

Preventive Maintenance Schedule that will be completed by the maintenance manager. Preventive maintenance

will be done based on the history provided on the maintenance log. The following points are to be checked

consistently cleaning, lubrication, periodical service. The below cleaning regime could be used.

Table 3: Cleaning Procedures

# Descriptio

n

Schedul

e

Mode

of

cleanin

g

Remarks

1 Spool

stand

Everyda

y

Cotton Ensure that

there is no Pins,

labels, and

buttons other

than the thread

cone on the

spool.

2 Machine

head

Everyda

y

Cotton Remove the

complete dust

from the entire

areas including

Bobbin winding

area,

Knee lifter

connecting

areas, backside

of the machine

arm.

3 Hook

shuttle

Twice a

week

Soft

Brush

Unscrew the

needle plate and

remove the dust

and threads and

clean the feed

dog, trimming

mechanism,

hook set areas,

feed bar areas

etc.,

4 Oil tank Everyda

y

Brush

Tweeze

r /

Magnet

Where the flap

and thread etc.,

Will

accumulate.

5 Bottom oil

tank

Once in

a week

Blower Check there is

no pins, bits of

cloth and bits of

thread, labels

etc., in the oil

tank and edge

of the oil tank.

The table 4 below was also developed to assist with Preventive Maintenance in terms of what to check and when

in order to achieve the preventive maintenance strategy.



Table 4: Stitching Machine Check Points

Description Schedule Remarks

Needle Daily

• Check type of the needle

• Check size of the needle

• Check position of the needle

• Check needle point of the

needle (suitable to the fabric)

• If the needle is bent/broken/

blunt

Thread Daily

• Make sure the thread is

suitable to the fabric and

sizes of the needle.

Thread

stand

Daily • To release the thread freely

match the angle of spool-

holder and thread hanger

assembly.

Thread cone Once in

15 days • Should be kept vertically on

the thread spool.

Thread

guide holes

Thread to

be

replaced

800 to

1200 M/C

• Thread guides/Tension

disk/spring to be change if

grooved damaged.

Thread

check spring

depending

on the

condition

of the

spring

• The spring to be adjusted

according to the thread and

the fabric

Needle

thread

tension

Daily • Check threading: Threading

should be done properly

(should pass through every

hole of thread guides)

• Tension shoulder be kept as

light as possible.

Bobbin

thread

tension

Daily Check the bobbin condition, if

damaged/ bent to be replaced.

• Bobbin winding: Make sure

the bobbin is evenly wind

with even tension.

• Bobbin thread tension: To be

adjusted as per the fabric and

the thread.

Hook/Loope

r timing

Every 15

days

Check the timing of

hook/looper and needle (refer to

the service manual)

• Check hook/looper point

daily whether it is damaged.

Make it smooth or replace it.

• Check the needle plate hole

daily whether it is damaged.

Make it smooth or replace it.

Pressure

foot feed

dog/ Needle

plate

Every 15

days • Use the correct types of the

needle plate/pressure

foot/feed dog according to

the fabric and operations.

Pressure Every 15

days • Pressure should be adjusted

according to type of fabric

and operation.



However the above-mentioned tips are more useful to the sewing room personnel. Sewing mechanics can

prevent the sewing defects by maintaining the care of the industrial sewing machines. Defect free seam and

stitches of garments are always having the value-added products that gain more profits. Seams quality must be

obtained through the preventive maintenance of the industrial sewing machines respectively

Training of all Operators on Autonomous maintenance: The core idea of autonomous maintenance is to

provide the operators with more responsibility and allow them to carry out preventive maintenance tasks. All

workers in the production unit must be properly trained in order for the preventive maintenance to be effective.

Autonomous maintenance should be made part of induction training programmed. This Training is essential to

avoid unnecessary breakdown of equipment. The operators should be taught autonomous maintenance to avoid

downtime of machines. Autonomous maintenance is independent maintenance carried out by the operators of

the machines rather than by dedicated maintenance technicians. This is the core concept of TPM. TPM holds the

involvement of everyone as one of its key principles and thus makes the operators who use the machines more

responsible for the upkeep of the machines as well as the running of them. Training of the Operators will

involve several aspects as outlined below: Theoretical Training Theoretical training is about imparting basic

knowledge of machine components and functions. To perform properly the most important task such as machine

cleaning, operators should fully understand the objectives of autonomous maintenance and be even able to

deliver improvements in equipment reliability.

Initial Cleaning and Inspection: The initial cleaning of the machines is essential for high-quality maintenance.

It includes the thorough cleaning of the equipment and its surroundings. The purpose is to ensure that the

machine performance is fully restored by identifying and eliminating all signs of deterioration. The cleaning and

inspection should be done by the operators so that they become familiar with the machine details and can see

where dirt accumulates and how and what problems are occurring. The inspections that should be done on

machines could include;

• Leak detection

• Checking of loosened bolts

• Lubrication inspection

• Correction of defective items

• Removal of material rests from oil or water

Removal of dust and dirt and therefore reduction of paint corrections

Eliminating Contamination: After the initial cleaning has been performed and the equipment has been restored

again, it is highly important to make sure that it does not deteriorate again. This happens by eliminating all

possible contamination sources and improving accessibility for cleaning and maintenance. During cleaning it

will be vital to identify where the dirt that is removed is coming from; is it being produced inside the machine or

is it coming into the machine from outside. The sources of these contamination can then either be removed or

minimized.

Maintenance manager should consider the following possible solutions:

• Maintain cleaning standards

• Achieving lasting cleanliness by avoiding soiling

• Promoting cleanliness

• Encouraging operators to keep order

• Operators should be shown how to facilitate the planned inspections

Developing Standards for Cleaning, lubrication and inspection

The establishment of standards for operations of cleaning, inspection and lubrication follows the suggested

lubrication and inspection schedule. This is the step, which can be individually adjusted from the operators to

every machine. Inspection and Monitoring could involve the following:

• Checking lubrication level

• Locating leaks

• Tightening loose bolts

• Identifying possible mechanical problems as cracks

• Performing mechanical adjustments: tension measurement and regulate sensors

Finalizing Standards: The last step for a successful implementation of autonomous maintenance is to finalize

all provisional standards and establish a process for autonomous maintenance to be carried out by the operators

in the workshop.



Equipment Monitoring and Control: Top management of the company should be responsible for coordination

and monitoring of the maintenance activities. Continuous review of workflow will ensure that the management

of the property is aligned with client’s expectations and vision. Staff at all levels will be managing and

maintaining the property utilizing the standard checklists and work flows.

Safety and Occupational Standards: It is essential to implement appropriate risk assessment procedures for

maintenance operations, as well as employing adequate preventive measures to ensure the safety and health of

workers involved in maintenance activities. After maintenance operations are complete, special checks

(inspections and tests) should be carried out to ensure that maintenance has been properly carried out and that

new risks have not been created. During the whole process, good maintenance management should ensure that

maintenance is coordinated, scheduled and performed correctly as planned, and that the equipment or workplace

is left in a safe condition for continued operation.

V. CONCLUSIONS The aim of this study was to assist the local textile company to develop and implement an effective maintenance

management strategy. The maintenance management system of the organization was initially based on the

unplanned emergence maintenance management which meant machines were only fixed after they breakdown.

This reactive system was not suitable for the organization as the company lost lot of time in reacting to these

emergency breakdowns. The system is now changed to preventive maintenance which aims to prevent the

machines from breaking down hence ensuring that there is minimal downtime. ABC control system has also

been used to ensure that machine spare parts are ordered optimally so that there is minimal to no downtime of

the machines due to unavailability of spare parts.

REFERENCES 1. Chan, F. H. (2005). Total Productive Maintenance. Implementation of Total Productive Maintenance: A Case Study, 95.

2. Ilangkumaran, M and Kumanan, S (2009) Selection of maintenance policy for textile industry using hybrid multi-criteria

decision making approach, 20 (7), 1009 – 1022.

3. Islam, Anthony, K., Aubrey, M., kith, Ashley, & shyrsh. (2006). Identifying and Reducing Equipment Losses to

Maximise Overall Equipment Efficiency by Total Productive Maintenance. Dhaka: Bangladesh University of

Engineering & Technology.

4. Mobley, R. (2004). Maintenance Fundamentals. Butterworth: Heinemann.

5. O'Connor, P. D. (2005). Practical Realibility Engineering. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, LTD.

6. Raju, N. (2011). Plant Maintenance and Reliability Engineering. India: Cengage Learning.

7. Ralph, P. (2006). Maintenance Benchmarking and Best Practices. The McGraw Hill Companies, 4.

8. Senthilkumar, B., Sampath, V., Kumar, Demor, Kinash, & Simoph. (2012). Garment Manufacturing through Lean

Initiative on T Shirt Production Unit. European Journal of Scientific Research, 72(2), 245.

9. Shyjith, Ilangkumaran, Kumanan, David, Frank, & Chris. (2008). Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Approach to Evaluate

Optimum Maintenance Strategy in Textile Industry. Journal of Quality and Maintenance Engineering, 14 (4), 375-386.

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