A SWOT analysis of total productive maintenance frameworks

In the literature of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), a large number of frameworks have been proposed by different authors and consultants. If an organisation or a maintenance manager has to make a strategic decision of implementing TPM, it may not be easy for them to identify a suitable framework from a plethora of frameworks that are available in literature. Hence, in this paper, an attempt has been made to perform a comparative study of these frameworks using a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis. In addition to this, the SWOT analysis helped us consolidate a list of critical success factors for TPM apart from identifying the potential weaknesses and threats. Further, it can be concluded that implementation of TPM is by no means an easy task, as it is heavily burdened by weaknesses and threats. However, if an organisation implementing TPM gives due considerations to these weaknesses and threats, it can utilise the significant strengths and opportunities offered by TPM to achieve a competitive advantage.