Experimental Investigation of TPM and Industry 4.0-Based Smart Maintenance System for Injection Molding Machine Optimization

The increasing demand for high productivity, reliability, and operational efficiency in plastic manufacturing industries has created the need for advanced maintenance strategies for injection molding machines. This study presents an experimental investigation of the integration of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and Industry 4.0-based smart maintenance systems for optimizing machine performance. The research involved the implementation of TPM pillars, including autonomous maintenance, planned maintenance, and focused improvement, along with IoT-enabled sensors, real-time condition monitoring, and predictive maintenance techniques. Experimental data related to machine downtime, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), and Mean Time To Repair (MTTR) were collected and analyzed before and after implementation. The results demonstrated significant improvements in equipment availability, production efficiency, reliability, and product quality, while reducing breakdown frequency and maintenance costs. The integration of TPM with Industry 4.0 technologies provided enhanced decision-making capabilities and proactive maintenance management. The study confirms that smart maintenance systems can effectively support sustainable productivity improvement and reliability enhancement in injection molding industries.