Modernizing Machine Lubrication

How good is your lubrication program? 

Why do you think so? 

Join me to think about where machine lubrication fits within the reliability framework of the modern manufacturing plant, and look at a snapshot of the details needed to create an effective lubricaton plan.

How can something be both critical and obscure? Technically accurate machinery lubrication care is both critical and obscure. Few debate the importance of machine lubrication. Few debate the importance of accurate product selection and supply. Few debate the importance of lubricant condition control. At the same time, few perform these functions with much precision or have any idea how well their own plants fulfill these 'behind the scenes' activities.

I recently had an opportunity to review lubrication work practices (PM’s) at a large process plant in the heartland. From our discussions, and before setting foot inside the plant gate, I would have bet my front teeth that the work practices would only address enough of the lubrication requirement to pass a 'red-face test'. (In case you don’t know, the red-face test represents just enough quality that a review isn’t totally embarrassing.)

One can just imagine how a system of poorly defined practices might become the plant gospel…
Not very long ago, in the not-to-distant CMMS implementation project, managers and contractors were overheard addressing the topic of lu-breema-fycation…
CMMS Corporate Coordinator: “Billy-Ray-Joe-Bob, did you make sure that the lube stuff was included when you put together the PM’s?”
CMMS Contract Implementer: “Uh… Yea. See here. Every machine if covered. Got grease and everything.”
Coordinator: “Good, cause that fundamental stuff is really important.”
Contractor: “Oh yea, that is one of the areas that separates us from the other experts that do this stuff for a living. Hell, we can even set you up with a lubes supply agreement to make sure you have all the right stuff here at the plant.”
Coordinator: “No, Billy-Ray, that won’t be necessary. As long as the lube practices are in the system that is all that matters.”
Contractor: “Uh…, yea. Grease and everything”.

I was disappointed with my recent plant visit. Not because I was wrong, but because the poor state of development accepted as a healthy norm. The site personnel didn't know what they didn't know, and as a consequence the lubrication plan did not support mechanical reliability.

The face of 'status quo' lubrication practices: Ignorance and Apathy
If it is the case (and I assert from experience that it is) that precise machine lubrication is critical to sustaining plant machine health and productivity, then why don’t plants have a state of precision in their lubrication practices? Two words: Ignorance and Apathy!   I wish it were not true, but it is.

Ignorance reflects nothing more than a state of low knowledge. Most maintenance managers and supervisors do not personally have time to dedicate to the study of this field such that they intuitively 'get it'. And, since managers of the same group don’t tend to apply their full political power to things that they don’t thoroughly understand (and acknowledge the benefit of), then those managers don’t require their organizations to deliver precise lubrication practices. Ignorance is correctable, but until it is corrected, ignorance breeds within the organization a lack of attention and care that can be best described as Apathy.

Apathy is a form of laziness. I personally have had clients that were apathetic about the nature of their lubrication practices. I personally have earned a lot of money from these same folks when, at an appropriate time – generally following a successful address of some maddening problem or catastrophic threat, these folks have trusted their program to my agenda for lubrication management, and have then become content to let me chart their course and own the program. That can work if the in-plant technical resource is both knowledgeable and motivated, and there clearly are some suppliers that fit that description.

Regrettably, most plant folks are not stirred from their apathy to discover a better condition until there is an emotionally invigorating event, such as a visit by the company’s CEO to inform local management that the plant will be shut down if results don’t improve within 24 months, or some facsimile thereof.

The key to this problem (of ignorance and apathy) is knowledge. Once a manager begins to realize the potential that can be derived from precise lubrication activities, and understands that the roadmap to achieving sometimes-dramatic improvements is not hard to chart, then the manager begins to understand the value of the invested effort and energy. Precision lubrication is not difficult to define. It is difficult to implement. It is seriously difficult to motivate people to change long seated habits, especially if the people aren’t convinced that there is a reason to make a change. Again, the key is knowledge. It begins with understanding the state of the lubrication plan as it exists today within the (your) plant environment. If you would like to begin the process of evaluating the state of your programs, you can find part one of a nine part on-line survey at http://www.maintenancebenchmarking.com/. Look for link to the Lubrication Practices Study.

Achieving an optimized lubrication state

Effective, meaning 'precise', machine lubrication is critical to delivering and/or sustaining maximum machine productivity. Precision lubrication entails technical accuracy in three areas:
1. Correctly matching the lubricant physical parameters to the machine’s mechanical design requirements (viscosity grades for oil and grease, additive types, NLGI grade, thickener type).
2. Correctly matching the lubricant performance capabilities to the operating conditions (wear resistance performance, moisture release, oxidation resistance, air release, use of solid film additives).
3. Correctly managing the lubricant to preserve lubricant condition (viscosity control, moisture control, air control, solid debris control, temperature control, volume control)

That’s all folks. It’s not that hard. It does, however, require leadership: vision, organization, and persistence.

The technical matters are not complicated, they are just obscure. In the coming months I will address a variety of topics that are both technical and managerial in nature with a hope that readers will catch a glimpse of the potential for this critical and overlooked area of plant operations.

I welcome your feedback. .