CLIT sheet and Autonomous Maintenance

Before we go to our subject, lets discuss about what is ‘CLIT’. And later we will discuss the relation between CLIT and Autonomous Maintenance. And we will also discuss, How CLIT sheet helps to achieve the goals of Autonomous Maintenance with example.

What is CLIT ?

CLIT is a short word represent the activities Clean, Lubricate, Inspect & Tighten. These are minor or basic maintenance activities, which are performed by operators on their respective machine or equipment.  Each terms which are represented by CLIT can be explained in following manner :

• Clean – Clean the specified part or surface using the mentioned technique, up to the specified standard.
• Lubricate – Lubricate the specified part using grease, oil, etc. using the mentioned technique, up to the specified standard.
• Inspect – Check the specified part or region for cracks, leaks, temperature & pressure readings, etc. using the mentioned technique up to the specified standard.
• Tighten – Tighten the specified Nut, bolt, Screw, etc. using the mentioned technique up to the specified standard.

View Clit sheet (Image format)

How CLIT is related to Autonomous Maintenance ?

Before explaining the relation I will explain Autonomous Maintenance (AM) in short.

Autonomous maintenance is a type of maintenance in which minor or basic maintenance activities such as cleaning, lubrication, inspection and tightening are done by operators who operate the machines, so that highly skilled maintenance team can focus on other maintenance activities such as improvement projects, planned maintenance, breakdown maintenance, etc.

Autonomous maintenance is not limited to these activities, it also involves creating an environment which helps the operators to perform maintenance as they are supposed to do in autonomous maintenance and also involves activities to sustain the autonomous maintenance. Ownership and Training are the two important words in the autonomous maintenance.

Now the relation between CLIT and autonomous maintenance. CLIT are the maintenance activities done by operators as part of autonomous maintenance.

How to implement CLIT

Some activities of autonomous maintenance need to be implemented initially for implementing CLIT, because CLIT is a part of Autonomous Maintenance (AM).

Implementation of CLIT is not an individual task; it rather requires a team. The team should consist members from maintenance team, Operators, Production team, and Quality team.

CLIT can be implemented in following steps:

Step 1 : Team formation and training

Form a team which have representatives from maintenance team, Operators, Production team, and Quality team. And educate operators and other team members about autonomous maintenance.

Training of operators is the most crucial step for the successful implementation of CLIT or autonomous maintenance. The team should ensure that operators are not only experts in running their machine or equipment, but they should be well versed on maintenance details of the machine or equipment. They might even need training on basic problem-solving techniques. An operator should have at least the following skills:

1. Machine cleaning procedure.
2. Basic of lubricating agents and their required frequency.
3. Detecting malfunctions/ abnormalities.
4. Correcting basic malfunctions/ abnormalities.
5. Setting & maintaining machine/ equipment on optimum level, etc.

Step 2 : Bring it to ”Like New” state

The team has to conduct a detailed study of the machine or equipment where CLIT needs to be implemented. The machine or equipment where CLIT needs to be implemented should be brought in “Like New” or “Baseline” state. The team should initially evaluate the current condition of machine or equipment and look for Loose bolts, leaks, cracks, rust, etc. and correct them in such a manner that the machine look like a new one.

Step 3 : Elimination of root cause

While doing the Step 1 and Step 2 the team should identify the root causes of the problems or breakdowns. These root causes are eliminated in this step.

Step 4 : Standardization

The team needs to develop standards for Cleaning, Lubrication, Tightening & Inspection as well as document them in a format called CLIT sheet, which is later used by operators for CLIT. Following aspects are to be kept in focus while standardization:

1. Make the CLIT sheet user friendly by designing the document in the local language of operators. Further photographs of part to be maintained, photographs of standard condition, etc. can be incorporated in the CLIT sheet.
2. The part to be maintained should be clearly mentioned/ labelled.
3. Specify the method, tool and corrective/ correction action required for activity.
4. Define the time allotted for corrective/ correction action.
5. Define frequency for each activity as per requirement, etc.

You can understand more clearly when you refer clit sheet at the end of this article

Step 5 : CLIT

Once CLIT activities are standardized, operators should continuously do CLIT activities as per the clit sheet.

Step 6 : Sustenance & continuous improvement

Once the CLIT is in action, the focus should be on sustenance & continuous improvement. This can be achieved by using many tools like following:

1. Use of KPIs: KPIs such as Monthly Breakdown, OEE, etc can be used to monitor & sustain CLIT implementation.
2. Stand-off meetings: Stand-off meetings are a great way for operators to communicate their challenges with their immediate seniors. Stand-off meetings can be as frequent as per shift, daily or weekly etc.
3. Audits: Scheduled internal audits can also be a very effective means of sustaining CLIT implementation. Auditors can refer the CLIT sheet for auditing.
4. Single point lessons: This is an easy yet effective visual tool for assisting members of the team in implementing change.
5. Revaluation: Every once in a while, it’s necessary to step back and look for further improvements in the system.

Benefits of CLIT

Following are the benefits of implementing CLIT

• Improves team work between departments.
• Abnormalities/ Malfunctions are detected earlier and immediately worked upon.
• It can prevent a Major breakdown in earlier stages.
• Machine/ Equipment are always in optimum condition.
• Smaller team required for maintenance.
• Increased availability of machine/ equipment, hence increased OEE, etc.
• These activities will drastically reduce the forced deterioration of the machine/ equipment resulting in extended service life of machine/ equipment.

Now we are ready to discuss CLIT sheet

CLIT SHEET

Following image represent an example of CLIT sheet of a moulding machine. This clit sheet helps operators to do the clit activities. It also helps supervisors to monitor the adherence of operators to the CLIT and hence the autonomous maintenance.

View Clit sheet (Image format)

Following are the basic information to be included in the CLIT sheet

• Responsible operators
• CLIT activity
• CLIT code
• Machine part or its location
• Standard
• Method
• Tools used
• Estimate time required for activity
• Pictures
• Frequency
• Place for for tick mark, which is to be done by the operator for ensuring the activity is completed as specified.

Thank You.

If you know any subject that can be related to manufacturing industry or industrial engineering, you can earn some income by becoming article contributor of this website. For knowing more about it, please visit Join us page.

You don’t need to have any experience in article writing, just knowledge on the subject is needed.

Also you can know more about our team of article contributors by visiting the about us page.

I am thankful to Mr.Meet Maheshwari for contributing to this article.