Implementation of 5S and TPM as continuous improvement strategies to increase the availability of 777F trucks in the mining sector

Abstract

Maintenance management in heavy-duty mining fleets faces significant losses due to unscheduled downtime, variability in repair times, and low work standardization. This study evaluates the effect of a 5S and Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) intervention on the operational availability of Caterpillar 777F trucks in a mining environment, using a pre-experimental before-and-after design. The baseline was established with data from July–December 2024, where the average availability was 87.2%, below the contractual target of 90%. The intervention was implemented during January–June 2025 and included: 5S organization and standardization, periodic audits, visual inspection, routine inspection and cleaning, as well as TPM actions related to autonomous and planned maintenance. After implementation, the average availability increased to 91.1%, representing an absolute increase of 3.9 percentage points, exceeding the contractual threshold. In terms of maintainability, a reduction in MTTR from 6.3 h to 5.1 h was observed, while MTBF showed fluctuating monthly trends, recovering at the end of the semester, consistent with a lower failure frequency. Additionally, disciplinary performance demonstrated substantial improvements through 5S audits (from 18% to 87%). Overall, the findings indicate that the 5S-TPM integration enhances operational continuity and strengthens execution discipline, with potential for replication in comparable mining fleets and contexts.