What is an example of autonomous maintenance?

An operator cleaning a conveyor drive under lockout finds oil weeping from the gearbox seal behind the guard, hangs a tag for maintenance, and the team then paints the floor pan light so the next drip shows from the walkway. Finding it, tagging it, fixing it and making normal visible is autonomous maintenance in one example.

What is a visual control in autonomous maintenance?

A mark that shows normal and abnormal at a glance, without a tool or a manual: match marks on bolts, a green zone on a gauge, MIN and MAX lines at a sight glass, labels and flow arrows on pipes, coloured caps on lubrication points. Pair the colour with a word or a position so everyone can read it.

What are match marks on bolts?

A paint line drawn across a nut or bolt head and onto the surface next to it, after it has been tightened to its torque. If the fastener turns, the line breaks or no longer lines up, so a loose bolt shows on a walk past.

Do operators have to lock out a machine to clean it?

Yes, whenever cleaning puts hands near moving parts or means opening a guard. In the US, OSHA's lockout/tagout standard, 29 CFR 1910.147, counts cleaning and lubricating as servicing. Plan each AM point so it can be done safely from outside the guard or under lockout.

How much time can autonomous maintenance save?

It depends on the machine, so measure your own. In the illustrative chip shield example on this page, stopping chips at the source cuts the end-of-shift clean from 30 to 10 minutes, about 13.3 hours a month over two shifts. Time the clean before and after step 2 to get your own figure.

What is the difference between a defect tag and a red tag?

A defect tag (also called an F-tag or abnormality tag) marks something wrong with a machine, such as a leak or a loose bolt, and stays on until it is fixed. A 5S red tag marks an item that may not be needed in the area.

Example gallery · 24 examples · TPM and maintenance

Autonomous maintenance examples: 24 tags, fixes and visual controls by step

Q: What are the seven steps of autonomous maintenance?

Initial cleaning and inspection; sources of contamination and hard-to-reach areas; cleaning, inspection and lubrication standards; general inspection; autonomous inspection; standardization; and autonomous management. Names vary between sources, but the order is the same, and most plants start with the first three on one machine.

Autonomous maintenance (jishu hozen) is the part of TPM in which operators look after the basic condition of their own machines: they clean, inspect, lubricate and tighten, and they tag anything abnormal before it turns into a breakdown. It is built up in seven steps, and most plants start with the first three. The 24 examples below are sorted by step and can be filtered by step or by equipment. Each one shows what the team found (the tag), the fix, the visual control that makes normal and abnormal obvious at a glance, who checks it and how often, and how the gain is kept. The drawings show before and after; the minutes are illustrative round numbers, not results from a particular plant.

Want the long version? Autonomous Maintenance: The Seven-Step Process: What each of the seven steps involves, where autonomous maintenance programs commonly stall and how AM ties into other lean tools.

Each card has a Before and an After drawing of the same spot. The finding is what went on the defect tag; the visual control is what an operator now looks at to see normal at a glance. Colours are always paired with a word or a position (MIN and MAX, OK and replace), so they read in poor light and for colour-blind readers. The minutes a month under each drawing are illustrative and are worked out from the counts and minutes shown.

Step

Equipment

Showing 24 of 24 examples

Step 1: Initial cleaning and inspection

The team cleans the machine thoroughly, under lockout and with maintenance alongside, and treats every abnormality it finds as a tag: small defects, missing lubrication or loose fasteners, places that are hard to reach, sources of dirt, causes of quality defects, unneeded items and unsafe spots. Cleaning is inspection.

- Step 1
- Conveyors
Oil leak found under a conveyor drive guard
During the first deep clean, with the drive locked out and the guard off, the team wiped a film of oil off the floor pan and traced it to the gearbox output seal. Nobody had seen it, because the guard covered the gearbox and the pan was black with old oil.
Illustrative numbersStops to top up and clean up gearbox oil. Before: 4 stops a month at 25 min (100 min). After: none. Saves 100 min a month, about 1.7 hours.
Finding:
Maintenance tag: oil weeping from the gearbox output seal, oil below the level mark, gearbox hidden by the guard.
Fix:
Maintenance replaced the seal and topped up with the grade on the gearbox plate. The team cleaned the floor pan and painted it light grey.
Visual control:
A light floor pan under the drive, so a new drip shows as a dark spot from the walkway. The guard gets an inspection window in step 2.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, every shift, from the walkway. The team leader signs the CIL sheet daily.
How it stays:
A spot on the pan is a new tag, not a wipe. The tag stays on the guard until the cause is fixed and checked.
See also: An inspection window in a chain drive guard, A stained sight glass hiding a low oil level
- Step 1
- Motors and gearboxes
Blocked motor cooling fins, and a temperature label
Cleaning a mixer's drive motor, the team found the fan cover and cooling fins packed with dust. The motor had been tripping on overload on hot afternoons, and the frame was too hot to keep a hand on.
Illustrative numbersOverload trips on the mixer. Before: 3 trips a month at 40 min (120 min). After: none. Saves 120 min a month, about 2 hours.
Finding:
Operator tag: fins and fan cover blocked with dust; motor trips on overload in hot weather.
Fix:
Fins and fan cover cleaned under lockout. Maintenance checked the running current against the nameplate once the motor ran cool.
Visual control:
A temperature indicator label on the motor frame. Each window turns black at its temperature and stays black, so a hot spell shows on the next walk past. Maintenance decides which window means call us.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, daily: label windows and fins. Maintenance, monthly: running current.
How it stays:
Fin cleaning is on the CIL sheet with its minutes. A blackened window is a tag, and the label is replaced once the cause is fixed.
See also: A cleaning standard drawn as a map with minutes
- Step 1
- Pumps and fans
Loose pump base bolts, then match marks
Wiping down a cooling water pump, an operator found one base bolt missing and two that turned by hand. The pump had been noisy for weeks: the loose base let the motor and pump move out of line.
Illustrative numbersStops for coupling and alignment repairs. Before: 1 stop a month at 120 min (120 min). After: none. Saves 120 min a month, about 2 hours.
Finding:
Maintenance tag: one base bolt missing, two loose, coupling noisy.
Fix:
Maintenance fitted the missing bolt, tightened all four to the torque on the pump drawing and checked the shaft alignment.
Visual control:
Match marks: a paint line across each nut and onto the base, drawn after tightening. If a nut turns, the line breaks or no longer lines up, which anyone can see without a wrench.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, daily walk past: are the lines straight? Maintenance draws new marks after any re-torque.
How it stays:
A broken line is a tag for maintenance. Operators retighten only where the standard says they may, and marks are drawn only after a torqued tightening.
See also: V-belt take-up marks on a fan motor base
- Step 1
- Hydraulics and pneumatics
A stained sight glass hiding a low oil level
On a press's hydraulic power unit, the sight glass was so stained that nobody could read it. Cleaned, it showed the oil well below where it should be, and the filler cap that should have had a breather was open.
Illustrative numbersStops for low oil alarms. Before: 2 stops a month at 30 min (60 min). After: none. Saves 60 min a month, about 1 hours.
Finding:
Operator tag: sight glass unreadable, oil low, filler cap open to the air.
Fix:
Glass cleaned, cap closed, and oil topped up by maintenance with the grade on the tank plate. The loss was traced to a weeping hose fitting, which got its own tag.
Visual control:
MIN and MAX lines beside the glass with a green band between them, and the oil grade written next to it. Low or high reads in a second.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, every shift: level inside the band. Top-ups are written down, so a slow leak shows as a trend.
How it stays:
Top-ups only from the marked container. More than the agreed top-up in a week is a tag.
See also: A breather that shows when it is used up, A filter clogging indicator the operator reads

Step 2: Sources of contamination and hard-to-reach areas

Stop the dirt where it starts, and make the places that are hard to clean, inspect or lubricate easy to get at. Time the cleaning before and after: the minutes saved are what make room for the standards in step 3.

- Step 2
- Machine tools
A chip shield at the source on a machining center
Chips from the cut were thrown over the way covers and past the chip conveyor, so operators spent the end of every shift raking them out. The team watched where the chips flew and stopped them where they start.
Illustrative numbersEnd-of-shift cleaning. Before: 40 cleans a month at 30 min (1,200 min). After: 40 cleans a month at 10 min (400 min). Saves 800 min a month, about 13.3 hours.
Finding:
Source of contamination tag: chips thrown onto the way covers and past the chip conveyor.
Fix:
A bolted sheet metal shield around the work area with a clear panel, and a sloped tray that feeds the chip conveyor. The coolant nozzles were re-aimed to wash the tray.
Visual control:
The clear panel keeps the cut in view, and the tray has a full line: chips above it mean empty it now.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, every shift: tray below the line, way covers bare.
How it stays:
End-of-shift cleaning is timed once a week on the step 2 record. If the minutes creep up, the team looks for the new chip path.
See also: Coolant level and strength kept in a marked band, Cleaning kit on a shadow board at each machine
- Step 2
- Conveyors
An inspection window in a chain drive guard
Checking the drive chain on a pallet conveyor meant locking out, unbolting a solid guard and bolting it back, so the weekly check was often skipped. The team asked maintenance for a guard they could see through.
Illustrative numbersWeekly chain check. Before: 4 checks a month at 25 min (100 min). After: 4 checks a month at 3 min (12 min). Saves 88 min a month, about 1.5 hours.
Finding:
Hard-to-reach tag: chain tension and lubrication cannot be seen without removing the guard.
Fix:
The guard panel was remade with a clear polycarbonate window over the chain and tensioner. The window does not open and the guard still fully covers the chain; the site's guarding owner approved the design.
Visual control:
Through the window: a green mark for the tensioner's normal range and a label saying what good looks like (chain oiled, no stiff links).
Who checks, how often:
Operator, weekly, looking through the window with the guard on. Lockout only when something needs doing.
How it stays:
The window is wiped during the weekly check. A cloudy or cracked window is a tag.
See also: Oil leak found under a conveyor drive guard, A chain wear limit painted on the tensioner slot
- Step 2
- Packaging machines
Grease points brought out to the front of the guard
Six bearings on a case packer had their grease nipples behind the guard, and two could only be reached lying on the floor. Points that are hard to reach get missed.
Illustrative numbersWeekly greasing round. Before: 4 rounds a month at 35 min (140 min). After: 4 rounds a month at 8 min (32 min). Saves 108 min a month, about 1.8 hours.
Finding:
Hard-to-reach tag: six grease points behind the guard, two of them at floor level.
Fix:
Maintenance ran a grease line from each bearing to a block of six nipples on the outside of the guard, each numbered to its bearing.
Visual control:
Numbered nipples with caps in the grease's colour, and a label giving the shots for each point.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, weekly, at the block with the machine stopped.
How it stays:
The lubrication schedule lists the block, not six bearings. Maintenance checks the bearings after the first month to confirm grease is reaching every one.
See also: Gearbox fill points with coloured caps and a level window, Single-point lubricators instead of a weekly ladder climb
- Step 2
- Hydraulics and pneumatics
A breather that shows when it is used up
A press's hydraulic tank breathed through an open filler cap in a dusty area, and dust lay on the tank top around it. Every cycle of the cylinders drew air, and dirt with it, into the oil.
Illustrative numbersStops for sticking valves. Before: 2 stops a month at 45 min (90 min). After: 1 stop a month at 45 min (45 min). Saves 45 min a month, about 0.8 hours.
Finding:
Source of contamination tag: tank breathes through an open filler cap; dust settles around it.
Fix:
A desiccant breather fitted in place of the cap, so air coming in is filtered and dried, and the tank top cleaned.
Visual control:
The breather's crystals change colour from the bottom up as they take up water. A line on its body marks when to fit a new one.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, weekly: how far up has the colour reached?
How it stays:
A spare breather is kept with that tank's oil, and changing it is on the lubrication schedule.
See also: A stained sight glass hiding a low oil level, A filter clogging indicator the operator reads

Step 3: Cleaning, inspection and lubrication standards

For each point, write what to clean, inspect or lubricate, how, with what, how often, by whom and in how many minutes, so the routine fits the time the team has. Many sources call these provisional standards, because step 4 will change them.

- Step 3
- Motors and gearboxes
Gearbox fill points with coloured caps and a level window
Three gearboxes on a line took two different oils, and the fill plugs all looked the same. One had been topped up with the wrong oil.
Illustrative numbersStops from wrong or low gearbox oil. Before: 1 stop a month at 120 min (120 min). After: none. Saves 120 min a month, about 2 hours.
Finding:
Operator tag: wrong oil found in gearbox 2; fill points and containers not marked.
Fix:
Maintenance drained and refilled gearbox 2. Each fill point got a cap and tag in its oil's colour and shape (square for oils, round for greases), and each top-up container a lid to match.
Visual control:
Coloured cap and tag at the fill point, and a level window with the normal band marked. The standard reads: level in the band, same colour and shape on cap, tag and container.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, weekly: level in the band, top-ups only from the matching container.
How it stays:
Tags give the generic grade, not a brand, so they stay right when the supplier changes.
See also: One lubricant colour code across the plant, Grease points brought out to the front of the guard
- Step 3
- Packaging machines
A cleaning standard drawn as a map with minutes
After steps 1 and 2 the filler was quick to clean, but each crew cleaned it differently and nobody knew how long it should take.
Illustrative numbersCleaning the filler. Before: 40 cleans a month at 25 min (1,000 min). After: 40 cleans a month at 12 min (480 min). Saves 520 min a month, about 8.7 hours.
Finding:
Team finding from the step 2 record: no agreed method, tool or time for any area.
Fix:
The team timed each area, agreed the tool and the method, and dropped what did not need doing every shift.
Visual control:
A photo map at the station with 8 numbered zones, each with its tool, its frequency and its minutes, and the total for a shift: 12 minutes.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, every shift, ticking each zone. The team leader looks at one zone each day.
How it stays:
When cleaning takes longer than the map says, the team looks for a new source of dirt rather than rushing.
See also: Cleaning kit on a shadow board at each machine, One numbered route for the daily inspection
- Step 3
- Hydraulics and pneumatics
Air service unit: a green band on the gauge and a drain line on the bowl
Cylinders on an assembly press were slow on some shifts. The regulator had been turned up and down by different people, and the filter bowl was half full of water.
Illustrative numbersStops for slow cylinders. Before: 6 stops a month at 15 min (90 min). After: 1 stop a month at 15 min (15 min). Saves 75 min a month, about 1.3 hours.
Finding:
Operator tag: regulator set differently each shift; water in the filter bowl above the element.
Fix:
Maintenance set the regulator to the machine's stated pressure and fitted a locking cap. The team found the bowl's automatic drain blocked and cleaned it.
Visual control:
A green band on the gauge face over the set range, and a MAX line on the filter bowl for water.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, every shift: needle in the green, water below the line.
How it stays:
Only maintenance changes the setting. A needle outside the band is a tag.
See also: A hydraulic pressure gauge with a green zone

Step 4: General inspection

Operators are trained one equipment subject at a time (fasteners and drives, lubrication, hydraulics and pneumatics, electrics, the process) in how the parts work and how they fail, then inspect the whole machine for that subject. Each subject adds checks and visual controls.

- Step 4
- Pumps and fans
V-belt take-up marks on a fan motor base
In the drives module, operators learned that a slipping belt squeals and glazes and that a stretched belt is taken up by sliding the motor back. On the dust collector fan, the motor was nearly at the end of its slide.
Illustrative numbersStops from belt failure. Before: 1 stop a month at 90 min (90 min). After: none. Saves 90 min a month, about 1.5 hours.
Finding:
Operator tag: belts squeal at start-up; motor almost at the end of its take-up.
Fix:
Maintenance replaced the matched set of belts and tensioned them to the drive maker's figure with a tension gauge.
Visual control:
A green band on the slide base for the normal take-up range, red beyond it, and a pointer on the motor foot. Pointer in the red means the belts are worn out.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, weekly: pointer in the green, no squeal at start-up. Maintenance checks tension monthly.
How it stays:
The take-up marks are in the drives one point lesson and on the step 4 checklist.
See also: A chain wear limit painted on the tensioner slot, Loose pump base bolts, then match marks
- Step 4
- Hydraulics and pneumatics
A hydraulic pressure gauge with a green zone
In the hydraulics module, operators learned the press's working pressure and what it means when the gauge falls short of it or swings.
Illustrative numbersStops for short strokes. Before: 4 stops a month at 30 min (120 min). After: 1 stop a month at 30 min (30 min). Saves 90 min a month, about 1.5 hours.
Finding:
Operator tag: needle swings at pressure, and working pressure is below the setup sheet.
Fix:
Maintenance traced it to a worn pump and planned the change. The gauge was replaced with a liquid-filled one that reads steadily.
Visual control:
A green arc on the gauge face over the normal working range, red either side, and the normal figure on a label beside it.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, at start-up and once a shift: needle in the green at full pressure.
How it stays:
Maintenance sets the arcs from the machine's data and checks them whenever the gauge is replaced or calibrated.
See also: Air service unit: a green band on the gauge and a drain line on the bowl, A filter clogging indicator the operator reads
- Step 4
- Pumps and fans
Labelled pipes, flow arrows and valve positions
In the module on the cooling water system, operators traced every line from the pump to the heat exchanger. Two valves on the return were half shut and nobody knew why.
Illustrative numbersHigh-temperature stops on the machine it cools. Before: 3 stops a month at 30 min (90 min). After: none. Saves 90 min a month, about 1.5 hours.
Finding:
Operator tag: two valves on the return line partly closed; no pipe labels.
Fix:
Maintenance confirmed the correct positions and opened the valves. The team labelled every pipe with its contents and flow direction, using the site's pipe colour standard.
Visual control:
Pipe labels with the contents and an arrow for flow, a tag on each valve saying normally open or normally closed, and the handle's normal position painted on the pipe.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, daily: every handle lines up with its mark.
How it stays:
A valve moved for work is put back, and the person closing the work order checks it against its mark.
See also: One numbered route for the daily inspection
- Step 4
- Conveyors
A chain wear limit painted on the tensioner slot
Operators learned that a roller chain stretches as its pins and bushes wear, and that the tensioner takes up the slack until it runs out of travel. The checklist needed a line anyone could read.
Illustrative numbersStops from the chain jumping or breaking. Before: 1 stop a month at 150 min (150 min). After: none. Saves 150 min a month, about 2.5 hours.
Finding:
Operator tag: tensioner near the end of its slot; chain slack on the return.
Fix:
Maintenance replaced the chain and the worn sprocket together.
Visual control:
The tensioner slot painted green for the normal range and red for the last part of its travel. The checklist line reads: tensioner in the green? If red, tag it.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, weekly, through the guard window.
How it stays:
After a chain change, maintenance writes the date, so the team learns how long a chain lasts.
See also: An inspection window in a chain drive guard, V-belt take-up marks on a fan motor base

Step 5: Autonomous inspection

Operators run the full routine inspection themselves. Their checklist and maintenance's preventive maintenance list are combined so nothing is checked twice or missed, and checks are made quicker so the whole routine fits.

- Step 5
- Packaging machines
One numbered route for the daily inspection
The operators' CIL sheet and maintenance's preventive maintenance list for a cartoner had the same chain and belt checks on both, and the operators' sheet ran in the order the points were written down, not where they are.
Illustrative numbersDaily inspection. Before: 20 inspections a month at 35 min (700 min). After: 20 inspections a month at 18 min (360 min). Saves 340 min a month, about 5.7 hours.
Finding:
Team finding, comparing the two lists side by side: duplicated checks, and a route that crossed the machine back and forth.
Fix:
Duplicates removed, each check given to the operator or to maintenance, and the operator's points numbered in walking order around the machine.
Visual control:
A numbered tag at each point matching the checklist line, and the route drawn on the machine outline at the top of the sheet.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, daily, by number. Maintenance does only the checks that need its skills, on the PM schedule.
How it stays:
A new point is added where it sits on the route, with the next number.
See also: A cleaning standard drawn as a map with minutes, Check frequencies set by what the checks find
- Step 5
- Machine tools
Coolant level and strength kept in a marked band
On a group of CNC lathes, coolant was topped up with plain water whenever it looked low, so the mix drifted weak and parts came off with rust spots.
Illustrative numbersStops to fix coolant problems. Before: 2 stops a month at 60 min (120 min). After: none. Saves 120 min a month, about 2 hours.
Finding:
Operator tag: coolant weaker than the range on its data sheet; no way to see the tank level.
Fix:
Operators were trained to read strength with a refractometer and to top up only with premixed coolant from the mixer.
Visual control:
A float level indicator on the tank with a green band, and a card at the machine with the refractometer range from the data sheet marked in green.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, daily: level. Weekly: strength, written on the card.
How it stays:
A reading outside the green is a tag. The team leader looks at the cards every week.
See also: A chip shield at the source on a machining center
- Step 5
- Hydraulics and pneumatics
A filter clogging indicator the operator reads
Hydraulic return filters were changed by date. Some came out clean, and others had clearly been clogged for weeks.
Illustrative numbersFilter changes. Before: 4 changes a month at 30 min (120 min). After: 2 changes a month at 30 min (60 min). Saves 60 min a month, about 1 hours.
Finding:
Operator tag: return filter indicator red after warm-up.
Fix:
Filters are changed when the indicator says so, read with the oil at working temperature, because cold, thick oil can show red when the filter is fine.
Visual control:
The indicator on the filter head shows green when clean and red when the filter needs changing, with a label: read when warm.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, once a shift after warm-up. Red is a tag to maintenance.
How it stays:
Spare elements are kept against the tag, with the element's part number on the label.
See also: A breather that shows when it is used up, A hydraulic pressure gauge with a green zone

Step 6: Standardization

What works on the model machine becomes the way the whole area runs: the same cleaning kits, the same spares at the line, the same lubricant code everywhere, and standards that cover materials and records as well as equipment care.

- Step 6
- Machine tools
Cleaning kit on a shadow board at each machine
Each machine in a cell had its own mix of brushes and rags in a drawer, and the cleaning standard named tools that were often not there.
Illustrative numbersLooking for cleaning tools. Before: 40 cleans a month at 5 min (200 min). After: 40 cleans a month at 1 min (40 min). Saves 160 min a month, about 2.7 hours.
Finding:
Team finding: tools named in the cleaning standard missing at 3 of 6 machines.
Fix:
One kit per machine with exactly the tools its cleaning standard names, on a board beside the machine.
Visual control:
A shadow board with an outline for each tool, labelled with the cleaning map zone where it is used.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, end of shift: every outline filled. Team leader, weekly, at all six machines.
How it stays:
The board changes only when the cleaning standard does.
See also: A cleaning standard drawn as a map with minutes, A chip shield at the source on a machining center
- Step 6
- Packaging machines
Common spares at the line with a min line
Once operators were finding worn belts and blocked filters early, their tags sat open waiting for parts from stores.
Illustrative numbersWaiting for common spares. Before: 6 waits a month at 40 min (240 min). After: 6 waits a month at 5 min (30 min). Saves 210 min a month, about 3.5 hours.
Finding:
Team finding: tags held open waiting for common spares such as belts, filter elements and fuses.
Fix:
A small rack at the line for the spares the operators are trained to fit, each with a minimum and a maximum.
Visual control:
A labelled bin for each spare with a min line inside: when stock is down to the line, the reorder card goes to stores.
Who checks, how often:
Team leader, weekly. Stores refills to the maximum.
How it stays:
Only spares on the operators' standard live at the line; the rest stay in stores.
See also: A team board for tags opened and closed
- Step 6
- Motors and gearboxes
One lubricant colour code across the plant
Each area had made its own lubricant colour code in step 3, so the same colour meant different oils in different halls.
Illustrative numbersDrain and refill jobs after the wrong lubricant. Before: 1 job a month at 90 min (90 min). After: none. Saves 90 min a month, about 1.5 hours.
Finding:
Team finding: blue meant gear oil in one hall and hydraulic oil in the next.
Fix:
One plant code agreed with maintenance and stores, using generic grades, and every tag, cap and container changed over area by area.
Visual control:
A legend board at the lubricant store with each lubricant's colour, shape and grade, the same tags on the machines and the same lids on the top-up containers.
Who checks, how often:
Lubrication technician, monthly: tags and lids against the legend.
How it stays:
A new lubricant gets its code before it is bought.
See also: Gearbox fill points with coloured caps and a level window

Step 7: Autonomous management

Teams run their own equipment care and improve it: they track their own tags and stops, review their own check frequencies with maintenance and run small improvements, with maintenance as the experts they call on.

- Step 7
- Packaging machines
A team board for tags opened and closed
A filler team keeps its tag counts, its CIL minutes and the filler's stops on one board at the machine and goes over it in the start-of-shift meeting.
Illustrative numbersStops from tagged defects left unfixed. Before: 5 stops a month at 30 min (150 min). After: 2 stops a month at 30 min (60 min). Saves 90 min a month, about 1.5 hours.
Finding:
Team finding: tags older than 30 days had crept up, most of them waiting on maintenance.
Fix:
A weekly 10-minute review of every tag older than 30 days with the maintenance planner.
Visual control:
A chart of tags opened and closed each week, and a column of open tags by age with anything over 30 days in red.
Who checks, how often:
Team leader, daily. Area manager, weekly, at the board.
How it stays:
The board shows the team's own numbers, kept by the team.
See also: Common spares at the line with a min line, Check frequencies set by what the checks find
- Step 7
- Conveyors
Check frequencies set by what the checks find
After six months on autonomous inspection, a conveyor team looked at which checks had ever found anything. The daily chain lubrication check never had; the roller check kept finding seized rollers.
Illustrative numbersStops from seized rollers. Before: 3 stops a month at 20 min (60 min). After: 1 stop a month at 20 min (20 min). Saves 40 min a month, about 0.7 hours.
Finding:
Team finding: one daily check never finds anything, while another finds problems every month.
Fix:
With the maintenance engineer's agreement, chain lubrication moved to weekly and the roller check to twice a week, in the same total time.
Visual control:
The checklist shows each check's frequency, the date it was last reviewed and a running count of what each check has found.
Who checks, how often:
Team with the maintenance engineer, every six months.
How it stays:
A frequency changes only with the finds data and maintenance's agreement.
See also: One numbered route for the daily inspection, A team board for tags opened and closed
- Step 7
- Pumps and fans
Single-point lubricators instead of a weekly ladder climb
The team's own improvement: the two bearings of an exhaust fan sat high above the floor and were greased weekly from a ladder, with a second person to hold it.
Illustrative numbersGreasing the fan bearings. Before: 4 visits a month at 30 min (120 min). After: 4 visits a month at 2 min (8 min). Saves 112 min a month, about 1.9 hours.
Finding:
Team finding: weekly greasing needs a ladder and two people, and gets missed when the area is short of staff.
Fix:
With maintenance, a single-point automatic lubricator on each bearing, set to deliver the same grease over a set period.
Visual control:
Each lubricator's clear body shows how much grease is left, readable from the floor, and a label gives its change-by date.
Who checks, how often:
Operator, weekly, from the floor. Maintenance changes the units by the label date.
How it stays:
The lubricator setting and change-by date are on the lubrication schedule.
See also: Grease points brought out to the front of the guard

Every example is illustrative. The findings are typical of that kind of equipment and the minutes are round numbers chosen to show how the time adds up, not measurements from a company. Cleaning, inspecting and lubricating moving machinery is servicing: lock it out under your site's energy control procedure first, and do only the checks, top-ups and tightening that your standard and your training allow. Everything else goes to maintenance on a tag.

Start on one machine

Steps 1 to 3 on a single model machine, in this order. The AM checklist, the TPM tag log and the step audit below are built for these steps.

1Pick one machine that stops often or gets dirty fast, and form a team of its operators with one maintenance technician.
2Before anyone cleans, agree the lockout points for the machine and what operators may and may not touch.
3Clean everything, slowly, and hang a tag on every abnormality: leaks, loose or missing fasteners, dirt, hard-to-reach points, unneeded items and unsafe spots. Log each tag and take before photos.
4Time the clean, so step 2 has a baseline.
5Close tags every week: operator tags by the team, maintenance tags planned like any other work.
6For each source of dirt and each hard-to-reach point, find a countermeasure, then time the clean again.
7Mark normal as you go: match marks after tightening, bands on gauges and sight glasses, labels and arrows on pipes, coloured caps on lubrication points.
8Write the CIL standard: point, method, tool, frequency, minutes and who, so the routine fits the time the team has.
9Audit the step at the machine with the AM step audit before moving on, and spot-check earlier steps every time.

The steps and the safety rules behind the examples

The seven-step program for autonomous maintenance comes from the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM), which grew out of Seiichi Nakajima's work on TPM. The Lean Enterprise Institute's lexicon describes the core of it: operators do the daily lubricating, cleaning, tightening and inspecting of their own equipment. Step names differ between sources and editions. This page uses the names on our AM step audit and poster: initial cleaning and inspection; sources of contamination and hard-to-reach areas; cleaning, inspection and lubrication standards; general inspection; autonomous inspection; standardization; autonomous management. Some JIPM-based sources call the last two process quality assurance and autonomous maintenance in manual work, or standardization and full self-management. The order of work is the same.

JIPM's own book for operators, Autonomous Maintenance for Operators (Productivity Press, 1997), is built around the same ideas as steps 1 to 3: cleaning is inspection, contamination is contained where it starts, and lubrication is managed on the shop floor, with activity boards and one point lessons to make it stick. Most plants start there, on one model machine, and audit each step before moving on.

A visual control shows normal and abnormal without a tool or a manual: a paint line across a nut and its base that breaks or shifts if the nut turns, a green arc on a gauge, MIN and MAX lines at a sight glass, a label and an arrow on a pipe. Pair every colour with a word, a shape or a position, so it works for colour-blind readers and in poor light. Noria's lubricant identification tags pair a shape with each colour for that reason, and give the generic grade rather than a brand.

Cleaning is where operators get closest to moving parts. In the US, OSHA's standard 29 CFR 1910.147, The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout), counts lubricating, cleaning and adjusting as servicing and maintenance (paragraph (b), definitions), and applies during normal production when a guard is removed or bypassed or a body part goes into the danger zone (paragraph (a)(2)(ii)). The exception for minor, routine servicing in the note to that paragraph holds only when other measures give effective protection. So lock out before cleaning moving machinery, plan each AM point so it can be done safely from outside the guard or under lockout, and let operators fix only what their standard and training allow.

Sources checked

Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (ed.), Autonomous Maintenance for Operators (Productivity Press, 1997), publisher's page and contents: Title, editor, publisher and year; chapters on cleaning as inspection, containing contamination, lubrication on the shop floor, activity boards and one point lessons.
Lean Enterprise Institute, Lean Lexicon: total productive maintenance: Operators do the daily lubricating, cleaning, tightening and inspecting; how TPM differs from preventive maintenance alone.
Reliable Media, Autonomous maintenance guide (reliamag.com): The seven JIPM steps and what each covers; the seven categories of abnormality found in step 1; step 2 countermeasures such as clear covers and access panels; the subjects of step 4 training.
OSHA, 29 CFR 1910.147, The control of hazardous energy (lockout/tagout): Paragraph (a)(2)(ii) and its note on minor servicing; the definition of servicing and maintenance in paragraph (b).
Wes Cash, Lube identification tags, Machinery Lubrication (Noria), 2015: Colour plus shape for lubricant tags (square for oils, round for greases), generic grades instead of brand names, tags on containers as well as machines.
Markal, How torque marking helps prevent loose fasteners: Match marks drawn across fastener and surface after tightening to specification; a broken or misaligned line means the fastener moved.
Our autonomous maintenance step audit: The step names used across the site, and the criteria a team meets before it moves on.

Go deeper

The cards are the short version. These guides explain the method and walk through examples in full.

All our articles on this subject are in the tpm and maintenance topic.

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Lean glossary

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Questions about autonomous maintenance examples

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Autonomous maintenance examples: 24 tags, fixes and visual controls by step

Step 1: Initial cleaning and inspection

Oil leak found under a conveyor drive guard

Blocked motor cooling fins, and a temperature label

Loose pump base bolts, then match marks

A stained sight glass hiding a low oil level

Step 2: Sources of contamination and hard-to-reach areas

A chip shield at the source on a machining center

An inspection window in a chain drive guard

Grease points brought out to the front of the guard

A breather that shows when it is used up

Step 3: Cleaning, inspection and lubrication standards

Gearbox fill points with coloured caps and a level window

A cleaning standard drawn as a map with minutes

Air service unit: a green band on the gauge and a drain line on the bowl

Step 4: General inspection

V-belt take-up marks on a fan motor base

A hydraulic pressure gauge with a green zone

Labelled pipes, flow arrows and valve positions

A chain wear limit painted on the tensioner slot

Step 5: Autonomous inspection

One numbered route for the daily inspection

Coolant level and strength kept in a marked band

A filter clogging indicator the operator reads

Step 6: Standardization

Cleaning kit on a shadow board at each machine

Common spares at the line with a min line

One lubricant colour code across the plant