Total Productive Maintenance Checklist

What is a Total Productive Maintenance Checklist?

A total productive maintenance checklist is a structured guide used to evaluate the implementation of a TPM program across a site. It standardizes the assessment of equipment condition, process integrity, and worker compliance based on the approach. This ensures TPM practices are followed on the floor, preventing product defects, equipment breakdowns, and accidents.

Benefits of Using the Checklist

A total productive maintenance checklist keeps track of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), across availability, performance, and quality. It allows plant managers to create auditable and referable records confirming that TPM measures are properly set to minimize lost productivity.

With effective TPM checklisting, the site can experience a strong OEE supported by:

• Reduced unplanned downtime

• Enhanced operator accountability

• Faster root cause analysis

• Improved consistency between shifts

What to Include in a Total Productive Maintenance Checklist?

A TPM checklist should cover equipment condition, operator standards, and team activity across every step of the autonomous maintenance program. Here's a guide to the key items to include for implementation:

Equipment cleanliness

• Check main equipment surfaces for dust, dirt, oil stains, and waste

• Confirm materials and tools are stored in designated positions

• Inspect nuts, bolts, and moving parts for looseness, vibration, and overheating

• Clean cylinders, solenoids, motors, and belts, and remove debris

• Flag electrical components showing damage, overheating, or irregular noise

Lubrication checks

• Clean lubricators, oil pumps, and filler caps, and confirm they are uncontaminated

• Verify that oil volumes and drip rates are acceptable

• Ensure lubrication points are clearly labelled and accessible

• Check that the correct lubricant types and amounts are in use

• Inspect lubrication pipes for blockages, damage, and proper support

Equipment surroundings

• Confirm tools, instruments, and spare parts are placed in the correct locations

• Verify guards, nameplates, and safety labels are properly displayed

• Remove unnecessary objects from the work area

• Separate defective products from good ones

• Ensure aisles are clear and free of dust and debris

Contamination sources and hard-to-access areas

• Document all sources of dirt, dust, and oil stains

• Create an improvement plan for identified contamination sources

• Upgrade guards and cleaning tools to reach hard-to-access areas

• Confirm that cleaning areas are clearly allocated and assigned

Autonomous maintenance standards

• Define cleaning standards for each equipment unit

• Document lubrication standards with correct types, quantities, and labelled points

• Verify fastenings are correctly tightened

• Complete checking standards

• Assess whether cleaning and lubrication levels from previous steps are maintained

General inspection records

• Document findings on V-belts, chains, bearings, and shafts per inspection step

• Record lubrication compliance and any deviations from standards

• Note gearbox, pulley, and belt condition findings

• Log pipe, hose, and pressure gauge inspection outcomes

• Capture control panel, motor, and sensor inspection results

Skills training and team involvement

• Create and compile one-point lessons (OPLs) with team leaders

• Assess general inspection skill levels across all team members

• Ensure all team members are involved in TPM activities

OEE tracking and focused improvement

• Track availability, performance, and quality per shift

• Compile best-of-shift results

• Review OEE loss categories and assign improvement actions

Activity reporting

• Record problems identified, actions taken, and carryover items

• Log meeting, training , and practice sessions with participant counts

How to Use the Checklist

Plant managers and maintenance supervisors must complete these steps when conducting a TPM audit:

1. Fill in the basic details of the inspection for accountability. This includes the date, inspector name, the equipment or area being reviewed, and the current TPM step being assessed.

2. Work through each section of the checklist and evaluate equipment condition, lubrication state, surroundings, and operator compliance against the standards defined.

3. Assign a rating to each item and attach photos where equipment condition needs to be documented, particularly for contamination sources, hard-to-access areas, and general inspection findings.

4. Record any issues found during the inspection, including failed items, deviations from cleaning or lubrication standards, and safety concerns.

5. Assign corrective actions for all failed items and confirm completion.

6. Review OEE tracking data and log activity report details.

7. Provide an overall pass or fail assessment based on the step's scoring criteria and complete the checklist with a sign-off.

Sample Total Productive Maintenance Report

Below is an example of a filled and signed total productive maintenance checklist:

Sample Total Productive Maintenance PDF Report

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