MACHINERY LUBRICATION- INDIA SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2019 | Page 38

Loren Green | Noria Corporation
BACK PAGE BASICS
Lubrication Programs
ADVANTAGES of
Contracting Out Your
LUBRICATION
Program
A
cross industry there has
been a move toward
predictive and proactive
maintenance,
but
unfortunately a large
number of organizations are still
operating in the reactive maintenance
mode. This can be a difficult cycle to
break due to the efforts required just to
keep equipment running. Frequently,
repairs only involve getting machines
back up and not actually fixing them.
Many maintenance departments are
also woefully understaffed. Even teams
with sufficient personnel often spend so
much time “fighting fires” to keep the
plant operating that little time is left for
predictive or proactive maintenance.
There simply are not enough hours in
the day and not enough maintenance
mechanics to repair the equipment
properly in many organizations. This
creates considerable demand on
resources in the form of parts, labor
and time. In addition, the cost of a
breakdown can be significant, with the
repair of the breakdown only a small
portion of the breakdown’s total cost.
Studies have shown that most
organizations spend only 5 percent of
36 | September - October 2019 |
their maintenance budget on lubricants
and lubrication, yet approximately 70
percent of equipment failures are
lubrication related. This would include
applying
the
wrong
lubricant,
relubricating too often or not often
enough, using too much or too little
lubricant,
and
not
controlling
contamination adequately. In the end,
your maintenance dollars will be spent
one way or another. It is just a matter of
when and how much. If you skimp on
lubricants, breathers, filters, etc., you
will continue to spend vast amounts of
money on equipment downtime and
repairs.
Now consider the cost savings an
effective lubrication program can
provide in the form of increased
equipment reliability, reduced lubricant
consumption and fewer repair parts.
Lower overtime costs could also pay for
the program’s implementation and
management. Doesn’t this sound like
something that would be of interest to
your plant manager?
Lubrication: A Skilled Trade
It is important to realize that proper
lubrication is a skilled trade. Lube
technicians must be trained how to
www.machinerylubricationindia.com
determine which lubricant is best for
each application. They should also
know how to calculate the correct
relubrication quantity and frequency.
In order to learn these skills, technicians
must be trained and certified. Just like
every other skilled trade, lubrication
requires a training and certification
component.
With the average age of skilled workers
approaching 60, more and more of
these individuals will be retiring in the
next several years. Sadly, few younger
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P E R C E N T
of MachineryLubrication.com
visitors say their plant outsources
lubrication or maintenance tasks to
contract-based laborers