With the increasing focus of companies on enhancing their internal process management, World Class Manufacturing, or WCM, has become a prominent topic of discussion.

However, the growing popularity of this term has also led to the proliferation of myths and misunderstandings that can hinder a true comprehension of the program and its implementation. This newsletter aims to clarify these misconceptions, drawing upon the expertise of Hive4 in this domain.

Let’s begin with a fundamental point. In some contexts, the acronym WCM is mistakenly interpreted as World Class Maintenance. This seemingly minor semantic alteration represents a significant error, as it reduces a comprehensive concept, encompassing the entire management process and various areas within a company, to a singular focus on maintenance.

While maintenance is indeed an integral component of WCM deployment, it is not the sole element. WCM is a transformative program designed to achieve a global benchmark. It engages all employees in the principle of continuous improvement, with a focus on eliminating waste, reducing losses, and simultaneously enhancing standards and methodologies.

It is crucial to understand that WCM is not a finite project with a defined endpoint; rather, it is an ongoing program, an integrated system – a philosophy for manufacturing excellence. The foundational concepts were developed by Hayes and Wheelwright in 1984, drawing inspiration from the best practices observed in Japanese, German, and American industries, recognized as leaders in their respective fields.

However, the structured methodological management system was established in 2007, specifically tailored for automotive companies, by Dr. Hajime Yamashina, a professor at Kyoto University and a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (RSA).

According to Dr. Yamashina’s WCM methodology, analysis reveals that only approximately 5% of the activities within a typical production process directly add value to the product. The remaining activities can be categorized as follows: 35% that do not add direct value but are necessary for the product’s manufacture, and a significant 60% that can be eliminated through effective and innovative actions.

These activities are interconnected with every facet of a factory’s operations, ranging from material handling and storage arrangements to human errors occurring throughout the manufacturing and handling processes. Consequently, WCM is an operational excellence program that emphasizes the quality of the means of production and necessitates comprehensive training across the entire organization to prepare for this new methodology, which is structured around 10 technical pillars and 10 managerial pillars that guide the entire program.

WCM Technical Pillars:

1. Occupational Safety: Aims to create a safer work environment by mitigating unsafe conditions and behaviors through systematic procedures focused on accident prevention via observation, analysis, and the elimination of potential causes of workplace accidents.
2. Cost Breakdown: Involves translating losses into quantifiable costs, such as hours, energy, and rejects, through a comparative analysis of losses and their origins.
3. Autonomous Maintenance: Focuses on preventing equipment problems and minor stoppages resulting from inadequate basic machinery maintenance, with operators playing a crucial role in performing essential upkeep to support asset maintenance and preservation.
4. Focused Improvement: Targets the elimination of significant losses identified in the “cost breakdown” pillar, aiming for short-term results and substantial cost reductions by addressing losses and waste through a structured PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) improvement cycle to identify, eliminate, and standardize solutions.
5. Quality Control: Proposes the manufacture of defect-free products by enhancing the investigation of process capability and control, shifting the focus from mere control and deliberation to an internal analysis of the production process to address the root causes of poor quality.
6. Logistics and Customer Service: Manages the production flow in conjunction with the production system to ensure customer satisfaction by optimizing flow through the analysis of production chain variables, reducing inventory, and minimizing the potential for product damage.
7. Professional or Planned Maintenance: Encompasses activities aimed at establishing a maintenance system capable of reducing equipment damage and micro-downtimes to zero, achieving cost savings, and extending the lifecycle of machines through proactive maintenance practices (corrective and preventive).
8. People Development: Recognizes the critical role of employee competence development in WCM implementation, focusing on assessing competence-related issues, providing targeted training, and managing learning pathways to address challenges such as human error, developing advanced technical skills, fostering autonomous maintenance, achieving effective process control, and motivating and engaging personnel.
9. Environment and Energy: Focuses on the continuous improvement of the workplace or production environment through adherence to environmental norms and regulations, aiming to minimize environmental impact by addressing individual losses and implementing waste reduction initiatives.
10. Preventive Management of Machines: Seeks to enhance machine competitiveness by predicting potential equipment problems, leveraging knowledge and experience gained from older machines to ensure high quality, minimize costs, reduce project lead times, enhance flexibility, safety, ease of operation, reliability, and ease of maintenance, emphasizing the essential participation of individuals involved in machine management, supply, and operation.

WCM Managerial Pillars:

1. Management Commitment: Leadership must actively demonstrate dedication to achieving the program’s objectives.
2. Commitment to the Organization: A general commitment from the entire organization is essential for successful implementation.
3. Clarity in Objectives: Goals must be clearly defined and transparent, particularly regarding deliverables.
4. “WCM Route”: Establishing effective tools to streamline processes is crucial.
5. Allocation of Qualified People: Selecting and assigning the most capable professionals to relevant roles.
6. Organizational Competence: Enhancing the organization’s ability to adapt and seek optimal adjustments.
7. Time and Budget: Careful attention must be paid to the organization’s financial planning.
8. Level of Detail: Specifying the most appropriate aspects for addressing identified problems.
9. Expansion Level: Introducing the concept of “integrated cells of excellence” – model areas that serve as benchmarks for the organization.
10. Operator Motivation: It is vital to focus on team engagement to drive involvement in projects.

Given the significant role of maintenance within this framework, it’s important to note that simply implementing management software, whether a CMMS or EAM, is insufficient to fully embrace the WCM philosophy. While such software is a valuable tool, it must be integrated into a broader process involving management and other departments within the company.

Therefore, as a crucial element of this larger process, the selection of management software should consider the supplier’s expertise in WCM implementations. Opting for software from a provider with a strong background in asset management makes logical sense. As the CEO of Hive4 and a certified professional by the Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP), I have personally led numerous WCM implementation processes across various industries. With over 20 years of experience in asset management, starting as a PPCM (Planning, Programming and Control) intern, progressing through roles as a process engineer, maintenance and projects coordinator, operations director overseeing asset lifecycles, and now leading Hive4, my passion for this field drives me to simplify the challenges faced by professionals striving for excellence in asset management.

Frankly, the overuse and misuse of buzzwords and acronyms, hindering effective knowledge sharing, is a significant concern.

In conclusion, WCM is a powerful philosophy, originating within the FIAT group through a significant partnership with Professor Yamashina, and widely adopted across various industries. It is a holistic process involving the entire organization, not solely the maintenance department. Employing an asset management system with specific modules designed to support WCM is instrumental in achieving the company’s desired outcomes from its implementation.