Focus on quality has placed Delphi TVS at an advantage. By Venkatachari Jagannathan. Chennai: Like all other TVS GROUP companies, the quality bug too smote Delphi TVS Diesel Systems Limited.

Faced with 370 machine breakdowns in a month, the company took to total production maintenance (TPM) for its plant improvement in 1999 under the mentorship of Japanese productivity expert S Yamaguchi.

The Japanese guru first addressed the top management to get its commitment towards TPM. Later nine managers were trained and each took responsibility care of one machine. They were "owners" for the functioning and problems of those machines and were expected to know everything about them.

Six months later, after seeing the improvements in their machines, TPM was implemented throughout the company.

According to N C Krishnakumar, executive vice president, "TPM has benefited the company. For instance the machine breakdowns came down to just 3 per month. The machine utilisation went up to 80 per cent from 60 per cent."

According to company officials, the TPM goal is to have zero-machine breakdowns, defects or accidents. Even when buying machines, the company prefers "TPM-friendly" machines to others.

Interestingly the company's TPM slogans are coined using the products it makes. They are: 'pump in TPM techniques', 'inject creative ideas' and 'filter out all problems'.

There are around 33 TPM circles in Delphi TVS that constantly throw up new ideas, with several having been implemented to improve the safety and working conditions. 

The achievements in TPM has fetched the company a couple of prestigious awards. In 2004, the company won the Frost & Sullivan India Manufacturing Excellence Award. The next year Delphi TVS was awarded the ACMA Gold Award 2005 and early this year the prestigious TPM Excellence First Category Award from the Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance, Japan.