Moving to a team-based organization and implementing TPM has resulted in some significant savings for the Phillips 66 Co.'s Sweeny complex over the last two years. The following are some of their business improvement results:

• Focused improvement activities have led to savings exceeding those for which Sweeny budgeted by tens of millions of dollars
• Improved equipment performance allows Sweeny to budget for producing more barrels per day than was possible on the best day of production prior to introducing TPM..
• Total operating expenses qualify as "best-in-class" according to the Solomon benchmark for the petroleum industry.
• Maintenance costs per barrel have been reduced by nearly 50 percent.
• Running maintenance overtime has been reduced significantly.
• OSHA reportable incidents have been reduced by 50 percent.
• Inventories have been reduced by 50 percent.

To ensure gains resulting from focused improvement activities, Sweeny's focused improvement system, led by Wes Summers, has been ISO9002-certified. Improvements are formally reviewed to check for proper documentation, progress and completion. Glen Ashbrook's efforts as facilitator of support services and training have helped Sweeny define training gaps for operators and maintenance personnel, and develop a training curriculum to close those gaps.

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March 1997 Quality Digest