AM Step 7 — Self Directed Management

By the time a team reaches AM Step 7, something has changed that is difficult to describe from the outside.

The equipment is in good condition. The standards are current. The inspection routine runs every shift. The workplace is organised. The team understands the connection between equipment condition and product quality. The numbers reflect all of it, minor stops sustained at a fraction of where they started, MTBF at or above the planned interval, quality defects traced and addressed before they recur.

But the more important change is not in the numbers. It is in the team.

They do not wait to be told. They do not need to be reminded. They do not treat the inspection routine as a task to be completed and signed off. They treat it as information, about the condition of their equipment, the health of their process, and the quality of what they are producing. When something is not right, they know it before the data does. When a standard needs updating, they raise it. When an improvement is possible, they pursue it.

That is not a training outcome. It is the result of six steps of progressive capability development, confirmed at each stage, built on real equipment, by the people who operate it every day.

AM Step 7 does not introduce new tools or new techniques. It confirms that the capability built across AM Steps 1 through 6 is genuinely embedded, and it establishes the conditions that make that capability self-sustaining.

Autonomous Maintenance is built in sequence, step by step, using a structured development process confirmed by audit at each stage. AM Step 7 is the final step in the Optimisation phase. If you are new to the system, the AM Pillar page explains how it works before you begin.

AM Phase 3 — Optimisation

AM Step 7 is the final step in the Optimisation phase. The goal of this phase is to standardise the system, embed continuous improvement, and hand full ownership of the equipment and the process to the operating team.

The two steps build on each other in sequence:

• AM Step 6 — Standardise the Workplace. All standards are reviewed and improved. The workplace is organised so that the right tools, materials, and information are always in the right place. The connection between equipment condition and product quality is made explicit and monitored as part of daily work.
• AM Step 7 — Self Directed Autonomous Management. The team manages their equipment and their process without being directed. The management system is embedded in daily work. Continuous improvement is the team's own activity, not a programme imposed from outside.

The Optimisation phase is complete when the team is genuinely self-directed, maintaining standards, improving them, and managing their process as a matter of course.

Working with the Maintenance function

By AM Step 7, the relationship between the operating team and the Maintenance function has fundamentally changed from where it started.

At AM Step 1, the Maintenance function was the primary source of technical knowledge. The operating team cleaned and found abnormalities. The Maintenance function fixed them. The boundary between the two was clear and largely fixed.

By AM Step 7, that boundary has shifted significantly. The operating team maintains the basic conditions, runs the integrated inspection routine, monitors quality-critical settings, and investigates abnormalities. The Maintenance function focuses on the technical work that genuinely requires specialist knowledge, planned overhauls, reliability engineering, condition-based monitoring of components beyond the team's capability, and improvement projects that require engineering expertise.

In AM Step 7, the Maintenance function's role is primarily one of partnership and technical support. The operating team is not asking maintenance to fix things they could not identify. They are raising specific, well-described abnormalities, contributing to problem analysis, and implementing countermeasures. The Maintenance function brings the technical depth. The operating team brings the operational knowledge. Together they manage the equipment's reliability.

The Maintenance function also plays a key role in the continuous improvement work of AM Step 7. As the team identifies opportunities to improve their standards, extend component life, or reduce the frequency of planned interventions, the Maintenance function provides the technical input needed to evaluate and implement those improvements safely and correctly.

The measure of this partnership at AM Step 7 is not how much maintenance the operating team has taken on. It is whether the equipment is being managed, by both teams, together, in a way that prevents failures rather than responding to them.

Purpose

The purpose of AM Step 7 is to confirm that the capability built across AM Steps 1 through 6 is genuinely embedded, and to establish the conditions that make it self-sustaining.

Three things define AM Step 7.

The first is self-direction. The team manages their equipment and their process without being directed. The inspection routine runs because the team understands why it matters, not because a leader checks that it has been done. Standards are maintained because the team owns them, not because compliance is being monitored. The management system is embedded in daily work.

The second is continuous improvement. The team does not just maintain their standards. They improve them. They ask whether the current method is still the best-known method. They identify opportunities to extend component life, reduce the frequency of interventions, or simplify the inspection routine without reducing its effectiveness. They share what they learn with adjacent teams. Improvement is not a project that happens to the team. It is what the team does.

The third is full process ownership. The team understands their equipment, their process, and the connection between the two. They know which equipment conditions affect which quality parameters. They know what the early signs of deterioration look like and what to do about them. They know how their work connects to the site's strategic objectives. That understanding is what makes the ownership real.

Objectives

AM Step 7 has two sets of objectives running in parallel. Ensuring we are building capabilities in both your equipment and your people.

For the equipment and process

Sustain all standards at or above the AM Step 6 level

Every standard developed across AM Steps 1 through 6 continues to be followed. The CIL standard, the Centreline standards, the integrated inspection standard, the 5S standard, the quality control standards, all of them. The equipment condition does not drift. The workplace does not drift. The standards are the current best-known method, and the team maintains them as a matter of course.

The measure is not compliance. It is condition. The question is not whether the checklist was signed. It is whether the equipment is in the condition the standard requires.

Drive continuous improvement of standards

The team reviews their standards regularly and improves them. Not because they have been asked to, but because they understand that the current standard is the best-known method today, and that tomorrow's knowledge may produce a better one.

Improvements come from three sources. From problem analysis: every breakdown or quality defect that is investigated produces a finding that may change the standard. From observation: the team notices things during the inspection routine that suggest a better method or a more efficient sequence. From reapplication: improvements made on adjacent lines or in other areas are reviewed for applicability here.

Every improvement to a standard is documented, trained to the team, and shared with adjacent teams. The learning does not stay on one line.

Extend component life and reduce planned intervention frequency

As the team's understanding of their equipment deepens, they identify opportunities to extend the life of components through better maintenance practice, improved lubrication, or earlier detection of deterioration. Where the data supports it, the frequency of planned interventions is reviewed and adjusted — not to reduce maintenance effort, but to align the maintenance schedule with the actual condition of the equipment.

This work is done in partnership with the Maintenance function. The operating team provides the observation. The Maintenance function provides the technical analysis. Together they build a maintenance schedule that reflects the equipment's actual behaviour, not a generic interval.

Maintain the work done in AM Steps 1 through 6

All systems from AM Steps 1 through 6 continue to run. The defect handling process, the data collection and review system, the improvement tracking system, the One Point Lesson process, the capability matrix, the integrated inspection standard, the CIL standard, the Centreline standards, the 5S standard, the quality control standards, the Process Confirmation schedule, and the step audit process are all still active. AM Step 7 does not replace any of them. It confirms that they are self-sustaining.

For our people

Develop genuine self-direction

The measure of self-direction is not whether the team completes the inspection routine without being reminded. It is whether the team understands why each element of the routine exists, can identify when the standard is not working, and takes action without waiting to be directed.

A self-directed team does not need a leader to tell them that an abnormality needs to be escalated. They know. A self-directed team does not need a leader to tell them that a standard has drifted. They see it. A self-directed team does not need a leader to initiate an improvement. They raise it.

That capability is the result of six steps of progressive development. AM Step 7 confirms it is real.

Develop the ability to coach others

In AM Step 7, experienced team members begin to coach others, new team members joining the line, teams on adjacent lines starting their AM journey, and leaders who are supporting AM for the first time.

Coaching is not teaching from a manual. It is sharing what was learned from real experience on real equipment. A team member who can explain why a particular check is in the inspection routine, what they found when they first cleaned that component, and what changed as a result, is a team member who has genuinely internalised the AM discipline. That is the capability AM Step 7 is designed to confirm and extend.

Develop cross-site learning

The team's knowledge does not stay on their line. In AM Step 7, the team actively shares what they have learned, through One Point Lessons, through participation in step audits on other lines, and through direct coaching of teams at earlier steps. The pilot line that completed AM Step 7 is the site's most valuable source of AM knowledge. That knowledge needs to move.

Measures of success

AM Step 7 uses the same measurement framework as AM Steps 1 through 6. The focus shifts from achieving targets to sustaining them, and from sustaining them to improving beyond them.

Baseline measures — carried forward from AM Steps 1 through 6

• Output Measure: Number of unplanned stoppages. Sustained at 90–95% reduction from the AM Step 1 baseline. In AM Step 7, the team is not just sustaining this level, they are identifying the remaining losses and working to eliminate them.
• Efficiency Measure: Integrated inspection time. Stable at or below the target set in AM Step 5 and confirmed in AM Step 6. Any changes to the routine through continuous improvement are re-timed and confirmed.
• In Process Measure: Number of defects identified. Low and stable. Defects found during the integrated inspection are still tagged, recorded, and escalated. The rate of defects found should be declining as the team's ability to prevent deterioration improves.
• Quality defect trend. Sustained downward trend from AM Step 6. Quality defects traced to equipment condition should be rare. When they occur, they are investigated and the standard is updated.
• CIL and Centreline compliance rates. Both maintained at 90% or above. In AM Step 7, compliance is confirmed through Process Confirmation, not through direct supervision.
• 5S score. Maintained at or above the AM Step 6 target. The workplace condition does not drift.

Pillar progress measures — track as you go

• Standards improvement rate. The number of standards reviewed and improved by the team in AM Step 7, initiated by the team rather than directed by a leader. This is the primary measure of self-direction in the improvement dimension.
• Component life extension. Where planned intervention frequencies have been reviewed and adjusted based on equipment condition data, track the change in interval and the resulting change in maintenance effort and equipment reliability.
• One Point Lessons developed and shared. Count of OPLs developed from AM Step 7 learnings and shared with adjacent teams or used to support teams at earlier steps. Cross-team learning is a key output of AM Step 7.
• Coaching activity. The number of team members actively coaching others, new team members, adjacent teams, or leaders. This is the measure of whether the capability is being transferred, not just held.
• MTBF trend. Mean Time Between Failure continuing to improve or holding at or above the planned intervention interval. A flat or declining MTBF in AM Step 7 is a signal that the continuous improvement work is not yet producing results.
• Problem analyses completed. Every breakdown, incident, or quality defect investigated by the team, with findings fed back into the relevant standard. In AM Step 7, the team leads these analyses. The Maintenance function and other functions support.

By the time the AM Step 7 audit is conducted, the team should be able to demonstrate:

• All AM standards sustained at or above the AM Step 6 level, CIL, Centreline, integrated inspection, 5S, quality control
• Minor stops sustained at 90–95% reduction from the AM Step 1 baseline
• MTBF at or above the planned intervention interval
• Standards improvement activity initiated by the team, not directed by a leader
• Every breakdown and quality defect investigated, with findings fed back into the relevant standard
• One Point Lessons developed from AM Step 7 learnings and shared with adjacent teams
• Team members actively coaching others, new team members, adjacent teams, or leaders at earlier steps
• Process Confirmation of all standards in place and conducted by the frontline leader on a defined schedule
• CIL, Centreline, 5S, and quality control standards on the Tiered Accountability Meeting agenda at every tier and being reviewed daily

Systems required before you start

All systems from AM Steps 1 through 6 must be sustained. The defect handling process, the data collection and review system, the improvement tracking system, the One Point Lesson process, the capability matrix, the integrated inspection standard, the CIL standard, the Centreline standards, the 5S standard, the quality control standards, the Process Confirmation schedule, and the step audit process are all still running. AM Step 7 does not add new systems. It confirms that the existing systems are self-sustaining.

The AM Step 7 process

AM Step 7 follows a defined sequence. Each stage builds on the one before it.

Preparation

Verify readiness for AM Step 7

Before AM Step 7 begins, confirm that the AM Step 6 audit has passed and that all Step 6 conditions are being maintained. The 5S standard is confirmed through Process Confirmation. The quality control standards are integrated into the inspection routine and being monitored. The standards review is complete. CIL and Centreline compliance are at or above 90%. Minor stops are sustained at 90–95% reduction from the AM Step 1 baseline. If any of these conditions are not met, AM Step 6 is not yet complete.

Establish the AM Step 7 baseline

Before AM Step 7 begins, update the loss picture. Minor stops, MTBF, quality defect trend, inspection time, CIL and Centreline compliance, 5S score, all of these are recorded as the AM Step 7 starting point. This is the baseline against which improvement in AM Step 7 will be measured.

Set AM Step 7 goals

Based on the baseline, set specific goals for the step. Not targets for compliance, the compliance targets were set in earlier steps. Goals for improvement: which standards will be reviewed and improved? Which components have the most potential for life extension? Which adjacent teams will the pilot team support? These goals are agreed with the line organisation and with the Maintenance function.

Train the team on the AM Step 7 approach

Before AM Step 7 begins, the team is trained on what self-directed management means in practice. Not a theoretical explanation, a practical conversation about what changes in AM Step 7, what the team is now responsible for initiating rather than responding to, and what the audit criteria are. The team knows what they are working toward from day one.

Clarify coaching responsibilities

Who on the team will coach new team members? Who will support adjacent teams at earlier steps? These responsibilities are agreed before AM Step 7 begins. Coaching is not an informal add-on, it is a named responsibility with a named person.

Maintain Steps 1 through 6 work

All existing standards continue to be followed throughout AM Step 7. The integrated inspection standard, the CIL standard, the Centreline standards, the 5S standard, and the quality control standards are all still running. The equipment condition does not drift. The workplace condition does not drift.

Abnormalities found during the daily routine are still tagged, recorded, and escalated. CIL, Centreline, 5S, and quality control compliance are still tracked and reviewed at every tier. The Line Activity Board is updated for AM Step 7, showing continuous improvement activity alongside continuing compliance data.

Run the self-directed management routine

In AM Step 7, the team runs their management routine without being directed. The inspection is completed every shift. Abnormalities are tagged, recorded, and escalated. Standards are confirmed through Process Confirmation. Results are reviewed at the Tiered Accountability Meeting.

The leader's role in this routine changes. In earlier steps, the leader was coaching the team to follow the standard. In AM Step 7, the leader is confirming that the standard is working, and removing barriers when it is not. The question the leader asks is no longer "did the team do the inspection?" It is "is the inspection finding what it should find, and is the team acting on what it finds?"

If the answer to either question is no, the leader investigates why. The standard may need updating. The team may need support. The system may have a gap. The leader's job is to find out which, and to address it.

Drive continuous improvement

Improve standards from problem analysis

Every breakdown, incident, or quality defect is investigated by the team. The investigation asks: what happened, where, why, and what does the standard need to say differently to prevent it happening again? The finding is documented in a One Point Lesson and trained to the team before the standard is updated.

Improve standards from observation

The team notices things during the inspection routine that suggest a better method. A check that is harder to perform than it needs to be. A sequence that could be more efficient. A visual control that is not as clear as it should be. These observations are raised, discussed, trialled, and, if they improve the standard, implemented.

Review planned intervention frequencies

Working with the Maintenance function, the team reviews the frequency of planned interventions against the equipment condition data. Where the data shows that the current interval is more frequent than the equipment's actual deterioration rate requires, the interval is extended. Where the data shows that the current interval is not frequent enough, it is shortened. The maintenance schedule reflects the equipment's actual behaviour.

Share learning with adjacent teams

Improvements made on this line are documented and shared. One Point Lessons are made available to adjacent teams. Team members visit other lines to share what they have learned. The pilot team's knowledge is the site's most valuable AM resource. AM Step 7 is where that resource is actively deployed.

Coach others

In AM Step 7, experienced team members take on a coaching role. This happens in three directions.

New team members joining the line. When a new operator joins the team, they are coached by an experienced team member, not handed a procedure and left to read it. The coach walks them through the inspection routine, explains why each check exists, shows them what abnormal looks like, and confirms that they can follow the route independently before stepping back.

Teams on adjacent lines at earlier steps. The pilot team's experience is directly relevant to teams starting AM Step 1 or working through AM Steps 2 and 3. Experienced team members visit those lines, share what they found during their own initial cleaning, explain what changed as a result, and answer the questions that only someone who has done the work can answer.

Leaders supporting AM for the first time. Leaders who are new to AM benefit from spending time with a team that has completed the journey. Not to observe a presentation, to walk the line, see the inspection routine in action, and talk to the team about what changed and why. That experience is more useful than any training programme.

Track results

Results are tracked daily throughout AM Step 7.

The team reviews integrated inspection completion, CIL and Centreline compliance, 5S score, quality defect trend, and MTBF trend at the start of each shift. The trend is visible on the activity board. The team can see whether the system is working.

Both process measures (standards improved, OPLs developed and shared, coaching activity, problem analyses completed) and output measures (minor stops, MTBF, quality defect trend, CIL compliance, Centreline compliance, 5S score) are tracked. The process measures tell you whether the team is doing the right things. The output measures tell you whether those things are working.

In AM Step 7, the team reviews these measures themselves. They do not wait for a leader to tell them what the trend shows. They know. And when the trend is not moving in the right direction, they ask why.

Behaviours

AM Step 7 produces a specific set of behaviours in the team and in leadership. These are not aspirational, they are observable. If you walk the line during AM Step 7 and you do not see these behaviours, the step is not running correctly.

AM Step 7 audit

The AM Step 7 audit is a formal confirmation that the expected capability has been achieved. It is not a surprise inspection, the team has known the criteria since the preparation stage. It is the moment where the team's work is recognised and the completion of the AM development sequence is confirmed.

The audit is requested by the team and conducted by a qualified assessor, typically the AM Pillar leader or an external facilitator. It is done with the team present. It covers the equipment condition, the workplace condition, the team's capability, and the systems and standards in place.

What the audit checks

Equipment and workplace condition

• The equipment is in the condition the integrated standard requires. No abnormalities at the component level.
• The workplace meets the 5S standard. The correct state of the workplace is immediately visible. Items are in their correct locations. The workplace looks the same at the end of a shift as it did at the start.
• All visual controls are in place and correct, for equipment condition, Centreline settings, and quality-critical parameters.
• The inspection route is still physically marked and easy to follow.

Standards

• All AM standards are current, being followed, and reflect the best-known method. Standards have been improved by the team during AM Step 7, not just maintained.
• Quality control standards are integrated into the inspection routine and being monitored as part of daily work.
• The 5S standard is documented, displayed, and confirmed through Process Confirmation.
• Planned intervention frequencies have been reviewed against equipment condition data and adjusted where the data supports it.

Team capability

• Team members can explain why every element of the inspection routine exists, not just what they check, but what they are looking for and what it means when they find it.
• Team members can describe a standard they have improved during AM Step 7, what they observed, what they changed, and what the result was.
• Team members have coached others, new team members, adjacent teams, or leaders. They can describe what they taught and how they confirmed the learning.
• Team members can describe a problem analysis they participated in and the change it produced in the standard.
• Minor stops are sustained at 90–95% reduction from the AM Step 1 baseline.
• MTBF is at or above the planned intervention interval.

Systems and standards

• All standards are on the Tiered Accountability Meeting agenda at every tier and are being reviewed daily.
• CIL, Centreline, 5S, and quality control compliance are being tracked and reviewed at every tier.
• Process Confirmation of all standards is in place and being conducted by the frontline leader on a defined schedule.
• The problem analysis process is in place and every breakdown and quality defect has been investigated. Findings have been fed back to the relevant standard.
• One Point Lessons developed from AM Step 7 learnings have been shared with adjacent teams.
• Coaching activity is in place and named, specific team members with specific coaching responsibilities.

If the audit passes

Celebrate the success. The team has completed the Autonomous Maintenance development sequence. They are Technical Operators in the fullest sense, maintaining their equipment, managing their process, improving their standards, and developing the people around them. That is a significant achievement, built step by step over a sustained period of time. Recognise it publicly and specifically.

The completion of AM Step 7 does not mean the work is finished. It means the capability is embedded. The team continues to run their inspection routine, confirm their standards, investigate failures, and improve their methods. The difference is that they do it as a matter of course, without a programme, without a step, without being directed.

The pilot team is now the site's most valuable AM resource. Their next role is to support the teams at earlier steps, coaching, sharing One Point Lessons, participating in step audits, and demonstrating what the end of the AM journey looks like to teams that are just beginning it.

If the audit does not pass

The audit identifies the specific gaps. The team develops countermeasures for each gap and implements them. When the countermeasures are closed, the audit is repeated. There is no fixed timeline for the re-audit, it happens when the gaps are genuinely addressed, not when a calendar date arrives.

A failed audit is not a failure of the team. It is information. It tells the team and the leader exactly what still needs to be done. The discipline is in addressing it properly, not in declaring it complete before it is ready.

What next?

AM Step 7 completes the Autonomous Maintenance development sequence. The team manages their equipment and their process. They maintain the standards, improve them, and develop the people around them. The reactive cycle that defined the starting point has been replaced by a system that prevents failures, sustains standards, and drives continuous improvement from within the team.

The pilot line is one phase ahead of the rest of the site. The capability built here is the proof of concept and the source of the coaches. The next phase of the AM programme extends the steps that are ready to multiple lines, with the pilot team supporting the teams that follow.

The Maintenance function's role continues to evolve alongside the operating team's capability. As more lines complete the AM journey, the Maintenance function focuses increasingly on the higher-level technical work, reliability engineering, condition-based monitoring, planned overhauls, and improvement projects that require specialist knowledge. The Maintenance Pillar page covers how that function builds its own capability in parallel with AM.