Wienerberger: TPM through TWI

Wienerberger’s experience of implementing TPM through TWI. This article summarises the presentation “The operator as an informed machine user — the foundations of TPM”, delivered by the Wienerberger team at the first Lean TWI Summit (Polish), held on 19 June 2024.

At LeanTrix, we supported Wienerberger in connecting Training Within Industry (TWI) with Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). This collaboration improved performance indicators and, above all, helped operators understand their role as the key users of their machines.

About Wienerberger

At the time described in the source presentation, Wienerberger AG was a global leader in building materials, employing more than 17,000 people at 201 plants in 30 countries. The company offered six groups of building solutions, including bricks, roof tiles and plastic components.

Wienerberger plants typically have:

• a large number of machines,

• extensive production areas,

• relatively few employees,
  which places high demands on operators and production leaders.

These conditions created a need for TPM at Wienerberger based on informed machine use and standardised operator work.

Organisational background

The analysis of the Wienerberger plant identified several key organisational challenges:

• a limited number of leaders,

• no local person responsible for continuous improvement,

• an overly broad scope of operator duties, including machine setup, problem response and quality checks,

• a lack of consistent work standards.

As a result, operators performed many activities intuitively, and production effectiveness (Polish) varied between shifts and according to employee experience.

Problems identified

The TPM diagnosis at Wienerberger identified several sources of loss:

1. OEE and breakdowns — difficulty maintaining machine readiness.

2. Long changeovers — a lack of consistent methods and standards.

3. Process variation — many undocumented techniques known only to experienced operators.

4. Gaps in TPM AM (Autonomous Maintenance) knowledge — operators struggled to recognise and resolve minor faults effectively.

The presentation emphasised the human contribution to machine-related problems. Its practical conclusion was that skills development and standardised activities are central to improving effectiveness.

Operator skills analysis and the need for TPM at Wienerberger

The analysis showed that:

• 94% of employees had at least two competencies,

• only 15% had more than five, predominantly leaders,

• most operators were limited to simpler tasks, such as sorting roof tiles.

The TPM programme therefore aimed to develop operators into informed machine users: people able to recognise symptoms of faults, respond preventively and support improvement.

Objectives of the TPM project at Wienerberger

The project combined TWI and TPM in one coherent approach. Its main objectives were:

1. Understand processes and skills — map activities on production lines in detail.

2. Close skills gaps — develop operators in key areas of autonomous maintenance.

3. Develop people before investing in machines — people create value through how equipment is used.

4. Improve OEE through standardisation and education, alongside technical work.

Solutions implemented at Wienerberger

Process mapping and skills matrices

The team developed detailed process maps for every production line and skills matrices showing employee proficiency levels.
This made skills gaps clear and provided a basis for planning employee development.

A TPM red-tag system

A red-tag fault-reporting system was introduced, with each abnormality visibly marked and reported.
Operators participated in:

• basic cleaning and inspections,

• fault identification,

• root-cause analysis (Polish) and elimination of recurring errors.

TPM became a way to learn every day at the workplace.

TWI-based TPM work instructions at Wienerberger

Workplace documentation was modernised.
The previous instructions were overly descriptive and focused on the machine rather than the working method.
The new instructions, prepared using TWI Job Instruction (JI), are:

• concise and visual,

• divided into important steps, key points and reasons,

• focused on teaching operators how to perform work safely, to the required quality and efficiently.

Wienerberger used the etwi system to digitise TWI work instructions.

Developing TWI instructors

Over two years, the programme trained:

• 50 TWI instructors,

• 20 leaders,

• and created four regional roles supporting standardisation.

The source reports more than 200 TWI instructions created and lists the following workflow figures:

• 87 published,

• 133 under review,

• 125 in development.

Results of TPM implementation at Wienerberger

The results were visible in both organisational culture and operational performance:

• Operators became more aware of their role and influence on equipment effectiveness.

• The number of improvement suggestions and preventive activities increased.

• Standardisation shortened changeovers.

• Process stability and OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) improved.

• The programme established a foundation for further TPM and Lean development across the organisation.

Next steps for TPM at Wienerberger

The Wienerberger team continues to develop its TPM and TWI system through:

• selecting instructors with suitable interpersonal skills,

• improving TWI Job Instruction as the teaching standard,

• periodically reviewing leaders’ skills gaps,

• keeping instructions active on the production floor through everyday use.

The project authors describe TWI Job Instruction as the most demanding of the simple methods: it requires a real understanding of people as well as the process.

Summary: TPM at Wienerberger

The Wienerberger case demonstrates how combining Training Within Industry with Total Productive Maintenance connects people and machines more effectively.
Standardisation, operator involvement and skills development became the basis for better OEE and a culture of continuous improvement.

For the LeanTrix team, it demonstrates that Lean transformation starts with people, with TWI and TPM providing practical methods for making it happen.