Maintaining stable production and preventing downtime are familiar challenges across the industry. This is where the TPM methodology comes in. Together with Essity, we have developed a concept to make Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) understandable, concrete, and something leaders across the organization can genuinely commit to.
Essity is a global hygiene and health company producing fiber-based products, personal care, and medical solutions. They own well-known brands such as TENA, Tork, Lobero, Libresse, and JOBST. With facilities across the world, stable operations, quality, and safety are critical to the company. To drive standardization and efficiency across production, Essity has made TPM a strategic priority.
TPM is a holistic approach to proactive maintenance that optimizes production processes and keeps operations running efficiently. The aim is to maximize productivity by minimizing downtime and defects, while extending the lifetime of equipment and machinery.
Following a period of extensive mergers and acquisitions, there was a clear need to standardize work processes across the company. Maturity levels varied significantly between business units: some factories were well into their TPM-journey, while others were only getting started. The problem was a lack of shared direction and ownership. Essity set out to build a common framework and a standardized process to the entire company.
The objective was to develop a concept that would make the TPM methodology more accessible and applicable for leaders throughout the organization, supporting a more unified rollout. Essity needed a solution that would build shared understanding of the methodology, while still leaving room for local reflection and priorities.
Specifique contributed to the design and development of the concept and learning tools. We began by creating a clear ‘TPM-story’ that made the initiative concrete and relevant in employees’ daily work. The format was designed to give leaders confidence in their work and a stronger sense of ownership over the concept. The learning program was built to create motivation, commitment, and shared direction.
As a first step, we ran a global workshop bringing together 89 regional leaders to build shared understanding of this way of working. Prior to the event, participants were asked to complete a digital pre-work, reflecting on their personal experience with TPM and what the methodology meant for their site. A key element throughout was strengthening ownership by encouraging participants to work actively with the content and information, drawing connections to daily work and identifying concrete actions and priorities going forward.
The concept and workshop was built around four modules: Strategy, The ‘TPM Journey’, The Role of the Leader, and The Road Ahead. Leaders were challenged to create a personal action plan, with concrete steps and timelines, as a commitment to the work ahead. Sites furthest along on the journey shared their experiences as part of a closing panel discussion. At the end of the day, leaders were encouraged to give feedback on the learning tools and suggest local adaptations.
The initiative is being rolled out in several stages, starting with regional leaders, followed by site leadership teams, and then down to the operator level. Feedback from the workshop was used to finalize the learning tools and working process. All materials are translated into local languages and the initiative is now carried forward by internal resources.
The result is a comprehensive and scalable solution that has strengthened the understanding and implementation of the TPM methodology across the company. The learning tools have provided structure to conversations around maturity, priorities, and next steps. The project has given Essity a concept that works globally while still accounting to local challenges and adaptations. Reports from the client indicate stronger ownership among leaders, high engagement, and good progress in the working process.
