Justification of total productive maintenance initiatives in Indian manufacturing industry for achieving core competitiveness

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of contributions of total productive maintenance (TPM) initiatives towards building core competencies in Indian manufacturing industry. This paper critically examines the implications of TPM implementation initiatives in Indian manufacturing organizations. Design/methodology/approach In this study a large number of manufacturing organizations have been extensively surveyed to ascertain contributions made by TPM initiatives in the Indian manufacturing industries towards realizing core competencies. The study involves working out the correlations between various TPM implementation dimensions and core competencies, and employs various statistical tools for extracting significant factors contributing effectively towards realization of core competencies. Findings The study reveals that organizational leadership and involvement, traditional maintenance practices, successful adaptation of effective TPM initiatives can significantly contribute towards accruing core competencies in the organization. The study highlights that the holistic TPM initiatives outscore the traditional maintenance practices towards improving the manufacturing performance (MP). The study establishes that focused TPM implementation over a reasonable time period can significantly contribute towards realization of core competencies in MP. Research limitations/implications The study has been conducted to ascertain the contributions of TPM initiatives for achieving core competencies in manufacturing organizations. However, sector‐wise studies can also be conducted to evaluate the contributions of TPM implementation towards performance enhancement under the specific situations. Practical implications The present study identifies the impact of key TPM initiatives dimensions on organizational performance and highlights the need for aligning organizational efforts in establishing maintenance improvement initiatives for realizing improvements in performance of manufacturing organizations. Originality/value The paper investigates the status of TPM initiatives in the Indian context and the preparedness of Indian manufacturing industry to meet the challenges posed by the western world by employing proactive TPM strategies.