It's time once again to make much of a simple concept; that two groups with different names, languages and cultures might put aside their old habits, pettiness and grudges, recognize the overwhelming alignment of their most critical self-interests, and join their complementary strengths to achieve unprecedented peace, harmony and productivity. That's the concept behind total productive maintenance (TPM), where maintenance and production personnel cooperate to define, standardize, allocate and perform the tasks needed to maximize overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), which keeps equipment producing quality product at maximum efficiency and minimum lifecycle cost.